ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has ordered to stop the supply of natural and flare gas from the Sara Suri field in Ghotki, Sindh, to the unregistered company Konnect Gas Pvt Ltd.
The regulator has written to Spud Energy, the operator of the gas field, regarding the illegal gas sale.
Spud Energy Pty Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jura Energy Corporation (JEC), and Konnect Gas is one of its subsidiaries.
Jura Energy has been selling the commodity to Konnect Gas from the Sara Suri fields since 2020 without the necessary approvals from Ogra. Despite lacking the required licence, Konnect Gas has been supplying unprocessed gas to CNG stations.
According to Ogra, Konnect Gas had applied for a licence to sell flare gas from the Sara Suri gas fields in April 2019. However, the application was not approved due to deficiencies and a lack of necessary information.
Ogra’s letter to Spud Energy highlighted that Konnect Gas had also applied for a licence for the sale of flare gas in April 2023, and after evaluation, certain deficiencies were found in requisite documentation under the provisions of Natural Gas Regulatory Authority (Licensing) Rules, 2002.
The letter stated that after the company failed to submit requisite data for 2.5 years, Ogra rejected the applications on April 15, 2022.
Later, a complaint was lodged with the petroleum division in October 2023 over an “unauthorised third-party gas sale” by Konnect Gas (Pvt) Ltd.
On its website, Jura Energy claims to be an “international independent upstream oil and gas company”. The company lists two wholly owned subsidiaries, Frontier Holdings Ltd and Spud Energy Ltd, according to the website.
Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2023
