The federal government has finally given a go-ahead to the Oil and Gas Company Limited (OGDC) and the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) to restart exploration activities in Balochistan to find the new oil and gas reservoirs.
The law-enforcement agencies will provide security to oil and gas exploration companies for exploration work. The concerned authorities have given more than one presentations to the governor and the chief minister of Balochistan on overall law and order situation in the province and termed the security arrangements as fool-proof for protecting the oil and gas exploration companies field staff.
Sources said following the central government direction, the OGDC, the public sector E&P, has mobilised its field staff and machinery to undertake drilling work at Jhall Magsi field in Balochistan.
Sources told Business Recorder on Sunday the OGDC technical team and machinery have already reached Jhall Magsi to undertake initial work for drilling.
The OGDC intends to utilise all the available resources to complete drilling work at Jhall Magsi as early as possible. Jhall Magsi will be followed by other drilling activities at other potential fields in Balochistan.
The OGDC has an ambitious plan for exploration in Balochistan. It has exploration plan for the current fiscal year includes 9 wells in Balochistan. However, the pace of exploration work was linked with improvement in law and order situation of the province.
Balochistan is enriched with oil and gas. PPL''s major discovery at Sui, a major source so far for the last over five decades is its ample proof. However, unrest and law and order problems kept oil and gas companies away from that province. Things turned worse some two to three years back due to war-like situation between the law-enforcement agencies and some tribes chiefs, including deceased Nawab Akbar Bughti of JWP.
The OGDC and PPL, which were actively engaged in the province to explore new reserviours had to pack-up after some untoward incidents. The E&P and gas distribution companies have suffered financial loss due to heavy firing at their fields and pipelines blasts in the recent past. However, with the changing political scenario in that province, the OGDC and other E&P companies are hopeful of good time in Balochistan now onward.