ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) of Pakistan on Wednesday dismissed a media report claiming the country’s gas transmission system was on the verge of collapse due to excessive pressure that has crossed the critical threshold of 4.07 billion cubic feet (bcf) for a host of technical reasons.

According to a report in The News International, the line pack pressure, which reflects the volume of gas within the pipeline, remains dangerously high at 5.08 bcf, warning that Pakistan’s gas transmission system could burst at any time, creating a major gas availability crisis.

However, the top OGRA official called the report “exaggerated,” saying the authorities had been using an effective Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and control the gas flow across the country.

“Media reports are exaggerated as the system was put in place to save the distribution lines from any damage by real-time management of the flow of gas,” OGRA Chairman Masroor Ahmed told Arab News.

“We have the SCADA system installed for the distribution which works on a real-time basis and it keeps on recording the situation of distribution which is managed accordingly,” he added.

SCADA systems enable industries to monitor and control equipment to improve their operational efficiency. In the distribution network, the function of a SCADA system is to monitor and control distribution sectors, optimize overall network efficiency and enhance system reliability and sustainability.

Ahmed said gas inflow into the pipeline could never be random or unchecked, adding it was also kept within the capacity limits as a principle.

“Molecules are put in the pipelines with calculations,” he informed. “They cannot be random without any system and measurement of the capacity.”

He added if the line cannot sustain a certain pressure, it is not given transmission volume above that.

“That is also the whole idea of having a SCADA system,” he said.