PPL becomes Pakistan’s first company to drill well abroad

PPL starts search for hydrocarbon reserves in Iraq

KARACHI: State-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has emerged as the first Pakistan-based oil and gas exploration firm to have gone global as it has started drilling a well in Iraq, where gas deposits of 200-300 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) are expected to be found.

PPL, the operator of Block 8 in Iraq, drilled the exploration well named Madain-1 on April 14, 2019. The block is located in the Mesopotamian basin and “it is surrounded by areas that have several large oil and gas fields”, the exploration firm stated in a notification sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday.

The well, which was being drilled on an integrated project management basis by a Chinese drilling contractor, Zepec, marked a significant milestone in the company’s history as its first international exploration well, the company said.

“Notably, the company is also the first Pakistani oil and gas exploration and production company to have a footprint as an operator on the international oil and gas map,” it said.

Topline Securities, in a commentary, said “the drilling will take more than six months…and the deposits could be as big as 200-300 mmcfd of gas.” The project would be wholly owned by the government of Iraq while PPL would get remuneration on contractual terms agreed with the Iraqi government, it added.

PPL’s share price inched down Rs0.16, or 0.09%, and closed at Rs176.65 with trading in 314,300 shares at the PSX.

“The Madain-1 prospect matured with the help of a 3D seismic survey carried out by the company over a 300-square-kilometre area of the block that spanned around 6,000 square kilometres,” added the company notification.

“There are multiple reservoir targets in Madain-1 that will be drilled to a depth of approximately 5,000 metres.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2019.

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