Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jadoon on Wednesday said the government intends to accelerate the oil and gas exploration activities in onshore and offshore areas and would invite bids for new blocks being opened in January next year.
He said this while talking to the Austrian OMV Petroleum delegation led by senior vice president Wolfgang Ramp, which called on him here and discussed investment potential in the oil and gas.
Wolfgang briefed the Minister about OMV world-wide activities in the oil and gas including in Pakistani areas of district Khairpur, Sindh from where it has been producing 550 million cubic feet gas daily and invested about $450 million so far.
He expressed OMV's interest to participate in the oil and gas development activities in Pakistan and with joint venture in international bidding with Pakistani companies.
Welcoming, the OMV delegation, the Minister said that there existed a lot of potential for the prospective investors in Pakistan's oil and gas projects.