Technocrat govt can't resolve Pakistan's issues: PM Abbasi

Says Pakistan Oilfields and Attock Oil Company invested Rs15b in Jhandial field

JHANDIAL: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that Pakistan can progress and prosper only under a democratic setup as technocrat and undemocratic forms of governance had failed to deliver in the past.

“The government will continue to pursue dynamic policies of Nawaz Sharif and take the country forward on a path of progress and prosperity,” said Premier Abbasi while addressing a ceremony after the inauguration of the Jhandial Gas Field near Fatehjang on Friday. He was flanked by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Minister for Defence Khurrum Dastgir Khan, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab and Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kamal.

Prime Minister Abbasi said the people of Pakistan would decide in 2018 as to who could serve them better in the days ahead.

He said the discovery at Jhandial was a very large discovery in Punjab after a long time, and hoped more successful discoveries would be possible in the near future.



He said Rs15 billion had been invested in the Jhandial field by the Pakistan Oilfields (POL) and Attock Oil Company (AOC) and made the discovery at 18,500 feet, one of the deepest wells in the country. The POL holds 80% share in the block, whereas the AOC has a 20% share.

He said the gas field promised reserves of at least 292 billion standard cubic feet of gas and 23 million barrels of oil per annum.

He said the field would produce 21 million cubic feet per day gas equivalent to the needs for Rawalpindi and Islamabad. He said the field would also produce 2,550 barrels per day and 50 tonnes LPG.

He hoped that the area around Jhandial and its people would benefit and prosper with the new discovery.

He said the PML-N government was proud to have made significant successes in the fields of oil and gas and 103 successful projects had been undertaken in the past four years.

He said the achievements in the development sector in the past four years were many times more than those in the past 15 years. He said the present government despite numerous challenges had brought in 10,000 MW of electricity to the national grid.



Prime Minister Abbasi also announced provision of natural gas for the villages and towns in the vicinity of the gas field.

Jhandial well is located in Ikhlas Block in Northern Potohar, about 83 kilometres Southwest of Islamabad in Attock district. The drilling of the deep exploratory well Jhandial-1 was proposed after acquisition and interpretation of 3D seismic data.

On the occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the discovery at Jhandial was large and had high quality of hydrocarbons. He appreciated the hard work of scientists and engineers in making the project a success.

He said the discovery, though in Punjab, was a discovery for the entire Pakistan. He said all the federating units together were making Pakistan strong and prosperous.

He said Pakistan besides fully exploiting the natural resources, also needs to optimally use other sources of energy to meet country's energy needs.