OGDCL announces ultra deep water offshore drilling in Pakistan for oil reserves
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ISLAMABAD - The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has made new announcement for the offshore drilling in Pakistan.
OGDC has said drilling in its ultra-deepwater offshore block is expected to start next year.
The rig has been arranged, where work will start from January 2019, which will take about 4-5 years to develop, a senior company official, The News has reported.
Industry officials said a joint venture comprising OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), ENI and ExxonMobil, have planned drilling of the first exploratory well Kekra-1 in offshore Indus G-Block with a total investment of $70 million.
Pakistan’s oil and gas sector witnessed a major development recently when the world’s largest energy company ExxonMobil acquired 25 percent stake in Pakistan’s offshore Indus G block. This development could be seen as a major breakthrough as it might lead other international energy firms to bring foreign investment in Pakistan’s energy sector.
Indus G block is approximately 7,500 square kilometres located in ultra-deep water offshore Pakistan. ENI is the operator of the block. OGDCL officials said Tal block pricing case is in the court and the new government is willing to discuss all existing issues.
The issue is expected to be settled in FY19, they said.
OGDCL sees stagnant growth in gas production as “a challenge”.
In the next two years, the OGDC should be able to come up with 150mmcd of gas.
“With natural depletion and incremental gas production, the company will be able to sustain its gas production at current levels going forward,” the company’s official said.
Profit of the company increased 23 percent in the year ended June 30, 2018, compared with the preceding year. This was on the back of higher crude oil prices and growth in sales.
Oil price hike and rupee depreciation lifted profit of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGCL) up a decent 23 percent at Rs78.736 billion during the financial year ended June 30, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs18.31.
