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Cantonment

The government said in 2004 it planned to build three new military bases in Sui, as well as in Kohlu, which has untapped oil and gas reserves, and the coastal town of Gwadar, which is the site of a Chinese-funded deep seaport. The plan triggered strong opposition from nationalist tribesmen who claimed the projects would bring in outsiders who would ultimately outnumber ethnic Baloch. The was a general perception that the people of Balochistan were suspicious of the decision in 2004 on setting up of three more cantonments in the area and that they don't trust the army. Tension started mounting after the federal government's decision to build three new cantonments and beef up the presence of paramilitary troops. There was already a paramilitary post for every 500 people, but the law and order situation had not improved. In October 2004 Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, a veteran politician from Balochistan, the chairman of the National Party, a new political entity that emerged when the Balochistan National Movement merged with the Balochistan Democratic Party, said "The government says that more cantonments will generate economic activity as well as helping to secure important installations which are frequently targeted by terrorists. But if we follow this rationale, how does the government explain the recent spate of violence that has resulted in acts of sabotage against gas pipelines as well as attacks, involving the use of explosives and landmines, against staff employed for the protection of these pipelines? The government was not able to protect the five Chinese nationals who were working on the Gwadar Port.... we doubt the government's intentions. We fear the government has been strengthening army presence in the province in order to crush the nationalist sentiment at any given moment. ... instead of mobilising the army to the areas where these incidents took place, the government has engaged in undeclared military operations in Balochistan, particularly in areas strongly dominated by the Balochs. Thus it is apparent that Islamabad is intent on treating Balochistan as a mere colony." On 26 January 2005 the Pakistan army formally announced the launch of a project to build a garrison in the troubled gas-rich town of Sui. The land had been acquired and payment made to the owners, and one battalion of regular troops with a number of tanks had already arrived in Sui. "We have come here and taken over the 400 acres of land allotted to the Pakistan army," commanding officer Lt-Col Mazhar Masood said. Earlier in the month tribal rebels had fired rockets at main gas field at Sui, killing eight people and suspending the supply to millions of homes and hundreds of industrial units. Since then troops were deployed around the Sui gas fields to track down those responsible. The troops were in Sui to protect the key gas installations, life, honor and property of its citizens from miscreants and to provide reinforcement to paramilitary forces in maintaining the law and order in the area.

In 1952 the very first year of the commencement of its business Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) achieved a major breakthrough, a discovery of huge natural gas field near the present day town Sui in Balochistan. Sui Gas Field is located in Bugti tribal territory of Balochistan about 650 km north of Karachi. Drilling at Sui well No.1 commenced on 10th October, 1951 by the Burmah Oil Co. (Pakistan Concessions) Limited. Natural gas was encountered at a depth of around 4,000 feet. However in search of oil, drilling was continued to a final depth of 10,049 feet. About that time, PPL had come into existence. The company and the nation had found the seventh largest gas field in the world and the biggest in Pakistan at that time.

Commercial exploitation of the field began in 1955, much before than anywhere else in the subcontinent. Since then the Sui Field has been meeting a significant amount of the Pakistan's energy requirement. The Sui gas discovered in 1952 is today, the second name of natural gas. The gas reserves discovered in Sui were to the tune of 11.69 trillion cubic feet. This being the biggest gas reserve in Pakistan is a real asset for the economic development of the country. The Sui Gas Field is still the single largest gas field in Pakistan.

Today the Sui Gas field produces around 604 MMscf of natural gas daily from 82 wells completed during 56 years of production. It is not only the pioneer gas producing field, it is indeed the biggest. The quantum of natural gas production from Sui Gas Field is a vital source of huge foreign exchange savings for the country as the same would have been spent on the import of energy had the gas reserves, in abundance, not been discovered.

PPL started with great pace to explore the untapped and abundant energy resources. The saga of drilling operations which commenced in 1952 from Sui continues today in the year 2007. The Sui deep well was drilled down to 4,713 meters and gas was discovered in Pab sandstone formation in 1999.

There were times when the gas with natural pressure at 80 bars could have been produced and supplied. But as the consumption of natural gas increased manifold the pressure has gradually depleted to a level of 24 bars. In order to fulfill the commitment of required gas pressure, PPL installed a most sophisticated state-of-the-art Sui Field Gas Compressor Station (SFGCS) in 1986, costing the company millions of dollars and a number of year's hard labor. Design concept of SFGCS includes high reliability, in-house power generation, full automation and computerized control system, built-in safety mechanisms, in-house repair and maintenance facilities. For further improvement in efficiency and productivity continuous analysis and revision of operation and maintenance processes and plans were carried-out.