Petroleum Minister Omar Ayub Khan on Saturday visited the site of the offshore drilling near the Karachi coast to review the pace of the exploratory work, Radio Pakistan reported.
The minister was accompanied by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar when he arrived at Kekra-I. They appreciated that the drilling, to find oil and gas deposits, has entered its final phase.
Work at the site began recently after a gap of nine years as a joint initiative of ENI, ExxonMobil, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL). Its estimated exploration cost is $75 million.
On April 30th, representatives from oil and gas giant ExxonMobil called on Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi in the federal capital.
ExxonMobil chairman Alex Volkov, along with his team, held productive discussions with the minister with regard to LNG requirements in Pakistan and the offshore drilling project off the coast of Karachi.