Gas exploration: PPL announces second hydrocarbon find

Discovery takes place in Hala block, follows the one in Gambat South .

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has announced a gas and condensate discovery in Hala block, located in Sindh’s Sanghar and Matiari districts. This is its second hydrocarbon find within six weeks.

The company said that it found 18.6 million standard cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas and 31 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate in exploratory well Adam West X-1.

“Exploration well Adam West X-1 was spud on May 21, 2014 and reached final depth of 4,057 metres on July 29, 2014,” the company said.

“At current estimates, flow potential of Adam West X-1 translates into approximately 3,200 barrels per day in oil equivalent, resulting in potential foreign exchange saving of $355,000 per day.”

Hala is a joint venture between PPL and Mari Petroleum Company Limited, with 65 and 35 percent working interest, respectively. It covers as area of about 395 square kilometres. The exploration licence for Hala was granted to PPL in March 2004. Subsequently, the first exploratory well Adam X-1 was drilled in 2007, resulting in the discovery, according to PPL’s website.

The recoverable gas reserves from the field are stated to be around 18 billion cubic feet. Hala supplies gas to Sui Southern Gas Company and condensate to National Refinery Limited.

PPL currently produces 10 mmcfd of gas and 150 bpd of condensate from another well in the same block.

It announced two other discoveries in the Gambat South block, located in Sanghar district of Sindh, last year.

In August, the company discovered 42 mmcfd of gas in the Gambat South block, its third and biggest discovery in that particular block. At the time, production from the well was expected to go up to 60 mmscfd.

“Two additional zones have been identified that will be tested later, resulting in an expected cumulative production of 60 mmscfd, translating into approximately 7,400 barrels per day in oil equivalent and foreign exchange saving of $0.75 million per day,” the company announced.

PPL has a portfolio of 47 exploration blocks and has been aggressively searching for new hydrocarbon finds since last year to compensate for the decrease in production from its established fields like Sui. It has also been trying to cut the depletion rate of its fields by installing compressor plants and drilling more wells.

The company accounts for 22% of the country’s gas production. In fiscal year 2013-14, it posted a profit of Rs51.41 billion, up 23% over the previous year. During last fiscal year, Rs10 billion were earmarked to be spent on exploration activities with focus on Gambat South.

PPL’s six producing fields include Sui, Kandhkot, Adhi, Mazrani, Chachar and Hala, while it has working interest in eight partner-operated fields. It also has working interest in offshore fields in Iraq and Yemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2014.

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