K-P CM backs K-POGCL on Lakki block expansion

CM Mahmood agrees to inaugurate oil refinery in Karak

PESHAWAR: The provincial government on Saturday extended support to the eponymous oil and gas company, especially in expanding a block where the company will drill for oil and gas.

This was assured in a meeting at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Peshawar on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and was attended by the K-P Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai, Adviser to the CM on Energy Hamayatullah Khan, the Energy Secretary, representatives of the K-P Oil and Gas Company Limited (K-POGCL) and other concerned officials.

The K-POGCL representatives, while briefing about their domain, ongoing activities and future plans, said that they were set up as a holding company of the provincial government in 2014. However, they could not achieve their targets. Hence, the provincial government directed its realignment and reconstitution of its board.

Now, the company was working on exploring oil and gas opportunities in the province.

In this regard, the meeting was told that K-POGCL had been awarded the Lakki block in September 2018. The block comprises areas in Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan. It was also revealed that there were at least six blocks in the newly merged districts of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on which the company was busy completing its homework.

An exploration licence has been issued and K-POGCL will be the operator of this project and the company hopes to make a net profit of around Rs30 billion from it.

The company said that they had completed the geological mapping and scouting of the block while a seismic tender has also been floated. However, the company was now seeking an expansion in this block for which it requires the cooperation of the provincial government.

The meeting also proposed a model to provide gas through cylinders in underdeveloped villages of gas-producing districts. This model could be launched and implemented following the approval of the provincial government.

On the proposal of the concerned department, the meeting agreed that there was a need to attract investors and modern technology in this sector.

Mahmood said that it was encouraging that the company was working on professional lines to achieve its targets for exploring oil and gas in the province.

He added that the province had rich potential in the oil and gas sector which could be utilised for the prosperity of the province.

“We will provide an ideal environment and facilities to the investors for this purpose,” he said as he assured the support of his administration to the company to resolve its issues.

The K-P chief minister also agreed to formally inaugurate an oil refinery in Karak and directed to convene a meeting of concerned authorities to finalise all requirements in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2019.