Pakistan awards 23 offshore oil exploration blocks after 18 years

• First round of offshore bidding from Pakistan since 2007.
• Four local consortiums win exploration rights.
• Turkish national oil company TPAO among foreign partners.
  

Pakistan said it has awarded 23 offshore exploration blocks to four consortiums led by local energy companies, some of which work with foreign companies, including Turkey’s national oil company TPAO.

In Pakistan’s first such bidding round in nearly two decades, the Energy Ministry said on Friday that bids had been awarded for 23 of the 40 offshore blocks on offer, covering about 53,500 square kilometers.

The Ministry of Energy ranked the state-owned Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) and MariEnergies, along with privately held Prime Energy, which is backed by Pakistan’s Hub Power Company (Hubco), are among the winners.

TPAO secured a 25% stake in one of the awarded blocks and the right to exploit it after signing a joint bid agreement with PPL earlier this year to explore the country’s offshore prospects.

Other partners include Hong Kong-based United Energy Group, Orient Petroleum, a major local independent producer, and Fatima Petroleum, part of Pakistan’s Fatima Group.

The four winning consortiums, led by OGDCL, PPL, Mari Petroleum and Prime Energy, have collectively pledged about $80 million in exploration work over the initial three-year period, the energy ministry said.

Total investment could be between $750 billion and $1 billion if drilling goes ahead, he added.

A recent basin assessment study by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, an American petroleum consulting firm, indicated the presence of a significant yet undiscovered hydrocarbon potential in Pakistan’s offshore basins.

The federal government later announced the launch of the Offshore Bid Round 2025, aimed at offering blocks to companies for exploration efforts in the Indus and Makran basins.

Meanwhile, the energy minister said Phase I of the agreement will allow the companies to carry out comprehensive geophysical and geological studies.

These studies include the acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data to better determine the hydrocarbon potential of Pakistan’s offshore basins.

Once these studies are complete, the companies will enter Phase II, which will involve drilling exploratory wells in the candidate areas.

In Pakistan’s 300,000 square kilometer offshore zone, which borders energy-rich Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, just 18 wells have been drilled since the country’s independence in 1947, too few to fully appreciate its hydrocarbon potential.

Pakistan, which imports about half of its oil, is seeking to revive foreign interest after the 2019 Kekra-1 well failure led to the withdrawal of US major Exxon Mobil.