ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday signed Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCAs) and Exploration Licences (ELs) for four blocks as part of its strategy to step up oil and gas exploration activities in potential areas aimed at meeting the country’s energy needs indigenously.
The PCAs and ELs were signed by Secretary Petroleum Mian Asad Hayauddin and Director General (Petroleum Concession) Imran Ahmed, on behalf of the government, and Managing Director Oil and Gas Development Company Limited Dr Naseem Ahmed, MD Pakistan Petroleum Limited Moin Raza and MD Mari Petroleum Company Limited Lt.Gen (Retired) Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed, being the executing Exploration and Production (E&P) companies.
According to a Petroleum Division press release, the PCAs and ELs are located at Block No. 3269-1 (Wali West)- MPCL; Block No 3072-8 and Block No 2972-6 (Shakar Ganj West-Cholistan) OGDCL and Block No. 3072-5 (Punjab) PPL.
Wali West block, which covers an area of 1609.63 Sq Kms, spreads over North Waziristan (64.71%) and South Waziristan (27.73%) areas, part of Tank district (1.23%), parts of Lakki Marwat (6.18%) and Bannu (0.16%).
The Cholistan Block, covering an area of 2478.26 Sq.Kms, is located between the districts of Bahawalpur (19.22%), and Bahawalnagar (80.78%).
The Shakarganj West Block, covering an area of 2479.37 Sq. Kms spreads over the districts of Pakpattan (27.46%), Bahawalnagar (0.25%), Vehari (51.66%) and Sahiwal (20.63%).
The Punjab Block, 2410.81 in Sq.Kms, is primarily located in Pakpattan (42.78%), Sahiwal (41.58%), Okara (15.07%) and Bahawalnagar (0.57%) districts.
The minimum firm work commitment for these blocks had been worked out at $44.1 million for a three year period. Under the agreements, the companies are bound to spend a mininum of $30,000 annually in each block on socio-economic welfare activities. The annual contribution towards such schemes for these four blocks would, thus, stand at $120,000.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Energy (Petroleum Division) Omar Ayub Khan welcomed the execution of the PCAs and ELs, terming them an important step towards incremental investments in Pakistan’s energy sector. “It will help in expanding the area of operations in far flung areas of the country; contribute to the socio-economic uplift of these areas and hopefully increase sources of indigenous energy production.”
