Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) was established by the Federal Government on March 28, 2002, in pursuance of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002 The objective of OGRA is to “foster competition, increase private investment and ownership in the midstream and downstream petroleum industry, protect the public interest while respecting individual rights and provide effective and efficient regulations”. The Authority comprises of Chairman/Chairperson and three Members viz; Member (Gas), Member (Finance), and Member (Oil) who are professionals with rich experience in their respective fields. They can serve for a maximum of two terms subject to retirement on attaining the age of 65 years.
Consequent to the establishment of OGRA, the Natural Gas Regulatory Authority (NGRA) was subsumed by the OGRA. All properties and works done by the NGRA were transferred to and protected under the OGRA Ordinance. OGRA was, therefore, in a position to start its functions with respect to natural gas immediately upon its establishment.
Powers and Functions
The powers and functions of the Authority are contained in Section 6 of the Ordinance. The Authority has the exclusive power to grant licenses for regulated activities in the Natural Gas, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and Oil sectors. These activities include the construction of pipelines, development of transmission and distribution network, sale and storage of Natural Gas, installation, production, storage, transportation, and marketing of CNG, LPG, and LNG, laying the pipelines, establishing/operating refineries, construction/operation of storages, lube oil blending plants and marketing of petroleum products in the oil sector. Some of the specific major functions are: