ISLAMABAD, June 28 (APP): Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday said oil and gas exploration companies had made six new discoveries during the current month alone, bringing the total number of finds to 83 in last three years.
“These are a record number of discoveries made in just one month, from where 50.1 mmcfd gas and 2,359 billion barrels oil per day was being produced,” he informed the the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources.
The committee meeting, chaired by Chaudhry Bilal Ahmed Virk, was attended by MNAs Muhammad Arshad Khan Leghari, Rana Afzaal Hussain, Mian Tariq Mehmood Rana Muhammad Ishaq Khan, Rasheed Ahmed Khan, Nawab Ali Wassan, Roshan Din Junejo, Nisar Khan Khattak and Abdul Waseem, besides senior officials of the ministry and attached departments.
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said out of the six new finds, two were made by the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) and MOL Pakistan each, and one by Petroleum Exploration (pvt) Limited (PEL) and United Energy Pakistan (UEP) each.
“Four discoveries have been made in different parts of Sindh and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.
Giving details of the new finds, the minister said PEL hit gas condensate discovery in Badin-IV South Block at Ayesha North-I Well in Sindh province, where the company dug 2,820 meters deep, conducted a successful DST (drill stem test) and found flow at the rate of 8.1 mmcfd of gas and 49 bpd oil.
UEP made a gas discovery in Bukhari Lease at Limu East-I Well in Sindh province and assessed 2.0 mmcfd of gas flow.
While, MOL Pakistan made two discoveries in Tal Block at Makori Deep-I Well and Tal Block Tolang West-I Well in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and found 18.5 mmcfd gas and 2,020 bpd oil flow during the drills.
OGDCL, the minister said, made two discoveries in Bitrism Block at Bitrism West-IA Well and in Thal block at Thal West-I Well in Sindh provinces with 215 mmcfd gas and 290 bpd oil.
Following the 83 oil and gas discoveries in last three years, around 631 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas and 27,359 barrels per day (bpd) Crude Oil production has been added to the system.
Earlier, Chairman Standing Committee Bilal Ahmed Virk directed the officials of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to make effective rules so that no defaulter of any government department could get any kind of licences from the authority.
The body expressed concern on what it called the ‘non-serious’ attitude of the Director General (Concession) of the ministry towards providing information sought by the members from time to time.
The chairman directed the secretary committee to furnish record of the queries and information the body had been asking to the ministry and their compliance on part of the director general.
He also asked the director general to submit copies of the Petroleum Policy-2012 and the Social Welfare Guidelines to the members within a week so that they could be studied and flaws, if any, could be removed from them.
