Mari Petroleum becomes largest company on PSX by market capitalisation

KARACHI: Mari Petroleum has emerged as the largest company on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) by market capitalisation, surpassing Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC) for the first time.

According to analyst Mohammad Sohail at Topline Securities, Mari Petroleum’s market value reached Rs984 billion ($3.5 billion), exceeding OGDC’s valuation of Rs963 billion ($3.4 billion).

This milestone marks a significant leap for Mari Petroleum, which ranked seventh in market capitalisation during the same period last year, while OGDC held the top spot. Sohail attributed Mari’s rapid ascent to heightened expectations of hydrocarbon discoveries and a major bonus share announcement earlier this year.

The company’s annual report for FY24 highlights a 7.0 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in hydrocarbon sales, reaching 39.01 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE). This growth is credited to the successful operations and capacity enhancement of the Sachal Gas Processing Complex (SGPC), accelerated production from the newly discovered Ghazij reservoir, and improved management of HRL, SML-SUL reservoirs and satellite fields.

Mari Petroleum’s gas market share as an operator rose from 24 per cent in FY23 to 29 per cent in FY24, while its oil market share grew from 2.1 per cent to 2.5 per cent. The company also reported robust financial results for FY24, posting a profit-after-tax (PAT) of Rs77.28 billion, up nearly 38 per cent YoY from Rs56.13 billion in the previous year.

In October, the company’s management revealed that the government had approved the renewal of Mari’s Development and Production (D&P) Lease until November 10, 2029. As part of this renewal, Mari Petroleum will contribute an additional 15 per cent of the wellhead value of gas produced to the federal government.

Mari Petroleum also launched a subsidiary, Mari Technologies Limited, on September 25, 2024. The new entity will focus on data centres, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other petroleum and mining-related technologies.

Addressing gas production curtailment, the government is working to manage the number of cargoes and gas volumes required by Sui companies to resolve intake issues.

Regarding bonus shares, the management noted that many shareholders have made the required bonus tax payments. For those unable to pay, the bonus shares will be sold at market price, with any shortfall compensated by adjusting an additional 10 per cent of the shareholders’ shares held by the company, according to a report by Arif Habib Limited.