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| PPL pursuing aggressive exploration strategy: MD |
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has adopted an aggressive exploration strategy to replenish and enhance its depleting hydrocarbon reserves.
“We have a plan to drill at least 100 exploratory wells during the next 10 years to expand our oil and gas reserves and increase our share in the country’s total oil and gas supply,” said Managing Director PPL Khalid Rehman in an interview.
He said this plan is approved and appreciated by the higher authorities and accordingly “we are pursuing an aggressive exploration strategy to not only maintain but enhance our share in the country’s total supply.”
Rehman said that currently PPL is working on 23 exploration areas in and outside the country. Seven out of these are PPL operated while 16 including one in Yemen are under joint venture arrangements.
PPL has seven exploration fields in the country, of which five are in Balochistan, he said, adding that presently, it is mobilising a rig, acquired from a US firm after a hectic struggle for Dhadar field in Balochistan.
The MD said PPL is going for deeper prospects in Sui area, which are ‘very bright.’ He said there is a search for oil and gas formations in Pub for which PPL will approach international contractors for acquiring drilling equipment and tools, affective in ultra-high temperature.
Rehman said that a 3D seismic survey is being carried out to obtain realistic estimates about the presence of oil and gas reserves before the start of exploration activities.
In addition, “we are also looking for opportunities to get oil and gas fields in and outside Pakistan under our resource replenish programme,” he added.
He said under this strategy, PPL has been able to have 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas per day in the last ten years with 50 per cent replenishment ratio, but “we aim to enhance it to 100 per cent.”
Presently, PPL has 12 production fields in the country, four of these are PPL operated while eight are under joint ventures with leading international players including ENI, OMV, AMACO, MOL and Hungary.
Under PPL operated fields, Sui is producing more than 600 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas, Kandhkot field 160 mmcf of gas, Adhi field 45 mmcf of gas, 3000 barrels of oil and 150 metric tons of LPG and Mazarani field is producing 12 mmcf of gas.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
