More than 55 percent of OGDCL's gas production is from a single field - Qadirpur. At present the nation is facing a desperate shortage of gas. The field which has been supplying over 550 mmcf of gas is virtually on the brink of collapse because of the greed of certain highly connected vendors linked with top OGDCL management, according to some well-placed sources in the petroleum ministry.
While the OGDCL is subject to clearly prescribed Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules these vendorsconsultants have managed to subvert these rules to serve their own interests to the detriment of OGDCL and the country. According to sources it has been known for several years to OGDCL management that Qadirpur field would require installation of compression equipment so that the field could continue to inject gas into the SNGPL system as its pressure declined with time.
While the optimal solution would have been installation of a permanent front-end compression system, top OGDCL management opted for a sub-optimal "interim" system at a cost of over $40 million. The intentions of the parties involved are evident from their not following prescribed PPRA rules.
In connection with the "interim" compression project, a multi-million euro consulting contract was awarded by OGDCL in 2008 to an international consulting firm without the prescribed procedure being followed, ie press tendering, which is PPRA requirement.
Subsequently, earlier this year, in connection with the same project, OGDCL awarded a contract of over $22 million for procurement of wellhead compressors to another firm, a little known company, in violation of prescribed procurement rules. The top management of OGDCL overrode GM (Supply Chain Management) concerns. Again, there was no public tender and PPRA rules were blatantly disregarded. It should be noted that the short-listing of firms for this major contract was done in a highly non-transparent manner by OGDCL, according to sources.