*KARACHI: A group of multinational companies have started offshore drillingat a distance of 230 kilometers from Karachi for exploration of oil andgas.*
A major drilling ship, “Mother of All Rigs” along with three supply vesselsstarted the drilling last night at the site at 9:00 PM. The preliminaryreport of the drilling has been sent to the concerned companies.
The companies are drilling Kekra-1 well in Indus-G block, which is locatedsome 280 kilometres away from the Karachi coast.
They would drill around 5,800 meters deep from the sea level and aretargeting to complete the spud in the next 60 days, sources said.
Eni Pakistan is the operator of the block, while, Exploration andProduction Pakistan BV (EEPP) is drilling the well. Besides, Pakistanstate-owned Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan PetroleumLimited (PPL) are part of the joint venture. Each of the four firms have a25% participating interest in the block, officials said.
Advisor for Shipping and Ports Mehmood Molvi has said that along withMother Rig ship, three supply vessels and two helicopters are also involvedin the drilling. The supply vessells will dispose off the sand and otherdug material in the sea.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi on hisTwitter handle announced arrival of the supply vessels transportingequipment to “Mother of All Rigs” docked 230km off the Karachi coast forexploration of oil and gas.
Last month, Exxon Mobil, the world’s biggest oil and gas company, hadannounced that it will reinvest in Pakistani market after a gap of nearlythree decades.
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A company’s delegation called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at the PM Houseand informed him of projects.
Pakistan, after a gap of nine years, begins offshore drilling to findestimated huge oil and gas deposits in ultra-deep waters at an estimatedcost of over $100 million.
“Eni Pakistan has estimated nine trillion cubic feet gas deposits,” anofficial said, adding “ExxonMobil expects oil deposits there.”
The well is being drilled almost after a gap of nine years, as the lastexploratory well in offshore area was drilled in January 2010.
Some of the surveyors find the block ‘Indus-G’ similar to Indian offshoreBombay High oilfields, which produce 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crudeoil, while some define it like wells producing hydrocarbons in the oil andgas rich country, Kuwait in the Gulf.
