Govt inks deals for petroleum exploration

Companies will invest $13.6m over a period of three years

ISLAMABAD: The government’s reform agenda and efforts to attract investment in the petroleum sector would continue unabated, remarked Federal Minister for Petroleum Omar Ayub Khan.

He was speaking at the signing of petroleum concession and exploration licence agreements at the Ministry of Petroleum. In a bid to attract investment and meet growing energy requirement of the country, the government on Thursday executed petroleum concessions and exploration licences for critical blocks in Sindh and Balochistan.

The agreements were signed by Petroleum Secretary Mian Asad Hayuddin and managing directors of PPL and OGDC. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Energy Nadeem Babar was present on the occasion.

An agreement has been signed with PPL for block 2,768-1 (Sorah) whereas for block 3,069-10 (Musakhel) the deal has been inked with a joint venture of OGDC and PPL. For block 2,667-9 (Khuzdar south), the agreement has been struck with OGDC. These blocks are located in Sindh and Balochistan. Sorah block covers an area of 1,151.70 square kilometres and is located in Sukkur (61.92%) and Khairpur (38.08%).

Khuzdar south block falls in Khuzdar (87.42%) and Dadu (12.58%) districts and covers an area of 2,493.36 square kilometres. Musakhel block is located in Musakhel (94.92%) and Zhob (5.08%) districts and spans an area of 2,176.15 square kilometres.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2019.

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