Signing ceremony of petroleum licences: Major step taken to help attract investment

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Muhammad Hammad Azhar graced the signing ceremony of Petroleum Concessions/Exploration Licences of six oil and gas blocks at the Petroleum Division on Friday.

Director General Petroleum Concessions, Petroleum Division granted Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCAs) and Exploration Licences (ELs) over Block No 3068-6 (Killa Saifullah) and Block No 3067-7 (Sharan) with Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL), Block No 3069-9 (Suleiman) with OGDCL and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Block No 2467-17 (Sujawal South), Block No 3273-5 (Jhelum) and Block No 3272-16 (Lilla) with OGDCL.

Killa Saifullah Block covering an area of 2,421.96 sq kms located in the district of Killa Saifullah, while Sharan Block covering an area of 2,497.89 sq kms is located in the districts of Killa Saifullah and Zhob, and Suleiman Block covering an area of 2,172.89 sq kms is located in Musakhel, Zhob, Killa Saif Ullah and Loralai Districts.

Sujawal South covering an area of 1,914.1 sq km is located in Sujawal District. Jhelum Block covering an area of 1,524.65 sq kms is located in the districts of Jhelum, Gujrat, and Mandi Bahauddin, while Lilla Block covering an area of 2,361.12 sq kms is located in Chakwal, Jhelum, and Khushab districts.

The OGDCL is a Public Limited Company engaged in exploration and production activities in the country for the last four decades.

The OGDCL holds the largest share of oil 41 percent and gas 36 percent of the total reserves in the country.

Its percentage share of total oil and gas production in Pakistan is 47 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

The OGDCL is the operator of 41 exploration licences and working interest owner in six other exploration blocks operated by various E&P companies. The OGDCL is currently producing 35,805 BOPD of oil, 1,012 MMCFD of gas, 761M tonnes of LPG and 53M tonnes of Sulphur per day.

The PPL is also a Public Limited Company engaged in exploration and production activities in the country.

The PPL is Pakistan’s oldest and largest exploration and production company, which was incorporated during 1950.

Its percentage share of total oil and gas production in Pakistan is 13 percent and 19 percent respectively.

The PPL is the operator in 26 Exploration Licences and working interest owners in 17 other exploration blocks operated by various E&P companies.

The PPL is currently producing 10,076 BOPD of oil, 673 MMCFD of gas, and 238 M tonnes of LPG.

The MPCL is primarily an exploration and production company in the upstream segment of the petroleum industry.

Its principal business activities include oil and gas exploration, drilling, field development, production and distribution of hydrocarbons (including natural gas, crude oil, condensate and LPG) as well as provision of E&P related services on commercial basis.

Mari Petroleum is an integrated exploration and production company, currently managing and operating Pakistan’s largest gas reservoir at Mari Gas Field, Daharki, Sindh.

The MPCL is the second largest gas producer in the country with 753 MMCFD gas and 1,722 BOPD oil.

The MPCL is the operator in six Development and Production Leases, 11 Exploration Licences, and working interest owner in seven other exploration blocks operated by various E&P companies.

These Exploration Licences and PCAs were signed by Mian Asad Hayaud Din, secretary Petroleum Division, Abdul Jabbar Memon, director general Petroleum Concessions on behalf of the government, Shahid Saleem Khan, managing director, OGDCL, Faheem Haider, managing director, MPCL, and Moin Raza Khan, manager director, PPL.

The Minister for Energy (Petroleum Division) stated that those efforts would bear fruit for the country in the form of additional hydrocarbon reserves during next few years.

The minister expressed that execution of the Exploration Licences and PCAs would not only enhance investment in the petroleum sector but would also contribute in bridging the energy demand and supply gap.

The DG (PC) highlighted that minimum firm work commitment for these blocks is $ 24.68 million for the period of three years. Companies are obligated to spend a minimum of $30,000/year in each block on social welfare schemes. Annual social welfare obligation in respect of these six blocks is US $180,000.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021