Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), an oil and gas exploration firm, has made another significant hydrocarbon discovery from Pateji X-1 well, located in Sujawal district of Sindh.

The E&P, a key supplier of natural gas in the country, shared the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday.

“This is further to our letter No. CS/PSX-0205 dated 15th November 2024 regarding the discovery of Upper Sand (D-Sand) reservoir at exploration well Pateji X-1, located in Sujawal district, Sindh.

“We are pleased to disclose that after in-house evaluation of acquired data, another exploratory zone/formation was identified in Upper Sand (C-Sand) and a gas/condensate discovery has been made at Upper Sand (C-Sand) reservoir at Pateji X-1 well, Shah Bandar block,” read the notice.

PPL informed that the well was drilled, tested and discovered in Shah Bandar block.

The Shah Bandar block is operated by PPL with a 63% working interest along with its joint venture partners i.e. Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL), Sindh Energy Holding Company Limited (SEHCL) and Government Holdings (Private) Limited (GHPL), each with working interests of 32%, 2.5% and 2.5%, respectively.

PPL records significant boost in hydrocarbon production

“After rigorous internal G&G [geological and geophysical] evaluation and deliberations, the exploration well Pateji X-1 was spudded on 11th October 2024 and drilled down to 2,475 meters (measured depth) to test the hydrocarbon potential of Upper Sands of Lower Goru Formation,” PPL said.

The company informed its stakeholders that potential hydrocarbon-bearing zones were identified based on the drilling results and acquired wireline logs data.

“During testing, the well flowed 12.4 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and 196 barrels per day of condensate against wellhead flowing pressure (WHFP) 2,551 psig at 32/64” choke from Lower Goru Upper Sands (C-Sand),“ it added.

PPL said that the latest discovery will add additional hydrocarbon reserves and enable the energy sector to reduce the current energy crisis in Pakistan thereby saving significant foreign exchange for the country through indigenous hydrocarbon production.

Days ago, PPL through its enhancement measures registered a notable increase in hydrocarbon production from its wells located across the country.

As per the company’s latest financial results, PPL saw its profit-after-tax (PAT) drop nearly 24% to clock in at Rs22.69 billion for the quarter-ended September 30, 2024.