PPL gets another extensionin Sui mining lease

KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) announced on Monday that the federal government allowed the company to continue production from Sui mining lease for another six months with effect from December 1, 2017.

The Sui Mining Lease was due to expire on May 31, 2015. The government of Pakistan through a notification issued on May 30, 2015, allowed the company to continue producing from the Sui gas field for another one year, up to May 31, 2016.

During May 2016, a memorandum of agreement (MoA) was executed between the government of Pakistan and the government of Balochistan for grant of Development and Production Lease (D&PL) to the company over the Sui gas field, with effect from June 1, 2015.

The MoA has been approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet however D&PL has not been formally granted. The government through notifications has been extending PPL’s mining lease for Sui ever since.

Meanwhile, PPL is striving to establish commercial viability of unconventional discoveries in the country, a statement said. In order to explore tight gas potential in the lower Indus basin, PPL drilled a well in Naushehro Feroze exploration lease. Tight gas potential was confirmed through successful drilling and testing of first well Naushahro Feroze X1 (NF X-1).

Due to the tight nature of the reservoir, this discovery initially did not appear commercially viable. After detailed post-well analysis and numerous sub-seismic geological and reservoir modeling’s, PPL re-drilled this well horizontally and completed with state of the art technology.

This well made history in the drilling industry of Pakistan, by becoming one of the deepest and longest horizontal wells in tight carbonate reservoir. Later, all 10 stages were stimulated and successfully tested at 4.5 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd).

In the future, “PPL plans to work on two additional tight gas discoveries to establish commercial viability,” PPL MD and CEO Syed Wamiq Bokhari said. “The company’s effort in tapping unconventional reservoirs has the potential to add substantial reserves to Pakistan’s hydrocarbons base.”