The government on Tuesday granted two Petroleum Exploration Licences to Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) over blocks numbers 2467-8 (Thatta) in Zone-II and 2870-2 (Bagh-o-Bahar) in Zone-III, covering an area 2,438.85 square kilometres and 2,499.13 sq kms respectively.
Thatta block fell in district Thatta of the Sindh and Bagh-o-Bahar block in districts Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur of Punjab, said a press release here on Tuesday.
A minimum firm investment of over US 4.18 million dollars and a contingent investment of US 6.25 million dollars will be made in the said two blocks.
During Phase-I of the initial term of these Licences, G&G studies, purchase and reprocessing of seismic data 2D 800 Line Km will be carried out.
The OGDCL shall acquire, process and interpret seismic data 2D of 405 Line Km in Bagh-o-Bahar and 2nd 300 Line km in Thatta Block.
Contingent upon the results of aforesaid seismic work programme, the OGDCL will decide to drill an exploration well upto 3,000 meters or Basal Sands of Lower Goru Formation in third year, in each of these blocks.
The OGDCL is currently operator of 25 exploration Licences and 39 leases besides interest in 32 non-operated leases. They are producing 31,350 barrels of oil, 856 million cubic feet of gas, 264 tons of LPG and 68 tons of Sulphur per day.
The execution ceremony was held in the presence of Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jaddon and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources Muhammad Naseer Mengal.
The Licences and the Petroleum Concession Agreements were signed by Ahmed Waqar Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources on behalf of the President of Pakistan, Petroleum Concessions Director General Mohammad Naeem Malik and OGDCL MD Mohammad Raziuddin.