News
Petronas of Malaysia to explore oil, gas in 3 districts of Sindh
ISLAMABAD, March 06 : The government on Monday granted petroleum exploration licence to the Malaysian Petroleum Company, Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn. (PCOSB), an affiliate company of Petronas Carigali (Pakistan) Limited (PCPL) of Block No. 2567-10 (Daphro) in Dadu, Nawabshah and Thatta districts of Sindh Province covering an area of 1838.09 sq. kms.
Simultaneous with the execution of petroleum exploration licence, petroleum concession agreement was also executed.
The execution ceremony was witnessed by Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Amanullah Khan Jadoon.
The Licences and the Petroleum Concession Agreements were signed by Ahmad Waqar, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources on behalf of the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mohammad Naeem Malik, Director General Petroleum Concessions and Mohammad Johari Dasri, Director of PCOSB.
Under the agreement, the company will invest US $ 10.15 million during initial period of three years of the licence and shall carry out G&G studies, 2D seismic acquisition, its processing and interpretation, reprocessing of existing seismic data and drilling of two wells in the block.
Petronas is presently operator of two Exploration Blocks i.e., Mubarak and Mehar and one Development and Production lease namely Rehmat. PCPL is producing 32 million cubic feet of gas and 109 barrels of condensate per day.
In order to increase reliability of energy supply and to reduce burden on foreign exchange, the government is encouraging exploration in the country.
During the current financial year a record number of 37 blocks were advertised for competitive bidding, whereas nine more blocks have been advertised for the next bidding round being held on March, 31, 2006.
Presently, there are 90 exploration licences and 120 development and production leases held by various international and local exploration and production companies operating in Pakistan.