Pakistan finds new oil, gas reserves in KP

The Express Tribune/15-07-2020

Pakistan has found new deposits of oil and gas in exploratory well Mamikhel South-01, located in Tal block in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). The discovery will slightly slash the country’s heavy reliance on energy imports and cut the import bill. “Well test has shown 3,240 barrels of condensate per day, 16.12 mmscf (million standard cubic feet) of gas per day and 48 barrels of water per day,” Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) said in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). “Actual production may differ significantly from the test results,” it said. POL holds a pre-commerciality working interest of 25%, it said.

MOL Pakistan, a fully owned subsidiary of Hungarian multinational oil and gas exploration firm MOL Group, is the operator of Tal block with an 8.4% stake. In the block, POL holds 21% stake, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) 28% and Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) 28%, according to Sherman Securities. The announcement sparked extensive buying in relevant stocks at the PSX. Accordingly, POL’s share price increased Rs15.08, or 4.07%, to close at Rs385.50 with 1.14 million shares changing hands. PPL’s share price improved Rs1.05, or 1.10%, to close at Rs96.61 with trading in 23.33 million shares. Meanwhile, OGDC’s share price inched up Rs0.09, or 0.08%, to Rs115.32 with a turnover of 4.37 million shares. Pakistan produced 85,000 barrels of oil per day in March 2020, according to tradingeconomics.com. However, the country meets around 80% of oil demand through imports.