The government on Friday formally awarded 8 more Model Petroleum Concession Agreements (MPCAs) and Model Exploration Licences (MPCLs) to foreign and local exploration and production companies. The Petroleum Ministry has taken all the four provinces on board for the execution of Petroleum Policy 2012 and as part of MPCAs and MPCLs has so far awarded 28 blocks out of 50 to Exploration and Production (E&P) companies. Of all the blocks, 21 fall in Balochistan, 15 in Punjab, 6 in Sindh and 8 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The execution ceremony was held here with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources as chief guest. The ceremony was attended among others by Jam Kamal Khan, State Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources and Zahid Muzaffar, Advisor to Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources.
The respective MPCL and PCAs were signed by Abid Saeed, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources, Saeedullah Shah, Director General Petroleum Concessions, Erwin Kroll, Senior Vice President of Middle East and Caspian Region, OMV, Riaz Khan, Managing Director, OGDCL, Asim Murtaza, Managing Director, PPL, Taj Muhammad Afridi, Chief Executive Officer, Al-Haj and other directors from concerned provinces.
The government executed 8 more PCAs and MPCL over Block No 2867-5 (Kuhan) and 2866-4 (Margand) with M/s OMV (Pakistan) Exploration Gesellschaft m.b.H (OMV) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), block No 3369-1 (Orakzai), 3170-7 (Hetu) and 2868-7 (Zorgarh) with Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), block No 2569-5 (Khipro East) with PPL, block No 3169-4 (Baska North) and 3271-6 (Potwar South) with Al-Haj Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd (AL-Haj). The Kuhan block will be operated by OMV while Margand block will be operated by PPL.
The government is giving high priority to develop indigenous hydrocarbon resources to bridge the demand and supply gap. Due to the untiring efforts of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources and especially by the DGPC and his team and keen interest generated by the investment friendly and attractive policies, since taking over by the current government 73 numbers of wells have been spudded and 18 discoveries made so far. The oil production in the country has crossed 90,000 bbl per day on 26.02.2014, which is the highest oil production level achieved so far.
Orakzai block is located in Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency and Hungo district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hetu block is located in Bhakkar and Mianwali districts of Punjab and D I Khan district of KP, Zorgarh block is located in Ghotki, Kashmore districts of Sindh, Dera Bugti and Jaffarabad districts of Balochistan and Rajanpur district of Punjab, Margand block is located in Khuzdar district of Balochistan and Dadu district of Sindh, Khipro East block is located in Sanghar and Umer Kot districts of Sindh, Kuhan block is located in Khuzdar, Jhal Magsi, Bolan and Kallat districts of Balochistan, Baska North block is located in D I Khan and Tank districts of KP, Zhob district of Balochistan and South Waziristan Agency and Potwar.
South block is located in Chakwal, Khushab and Mianwali districts of Punjab. The total area of aforesaid blocks is 18,852.64 squire kilometres and minimum firm work commitment is $60.73 million. Apart from minimum work commitment, companies are obligated to spend a minimum of $30,000 per year in each block on social welfare schemes. OMV (Pakistan) Exploration Gesellschaft m.b.H, existing under the laws of Austria, a 100 percent owned subsidiary of OMV Aktiengesellschaft, started exploration activities in the Province of Sindh in 1991. The first significant gas discovery was made at Miano in Sukkur district of Sindh province in 1993, followed by the Sawan discovery in 1997. Further discoveries, Latif and Tajjal gas fields were made in 2007. In 2011, OMV Maurice Energy Limited acquired Petronas Carigali Pakistan Limited. At present, OMV holds working interest in eight exploration blocks in Pakistan and is operator of five development and production. OMV is currently producing 2,648 barrels of crude oil and 375 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) of gas.