Petroleum exploration licenses in Arabian Sea granted
By Muhammad Ali Malik

ISLAMABAD—The Government on Monday executed petroleum exploration licenses with Government Holdings (Pvt) Limited and production sharing agreements with GHPL and Niko Resources Limited over four blocks located in Arabian Sea. The blocks included (1) Offshore Indus North (No. 2466-7) covering an area of 2466.24 sq. kms, (2) Offshore Indus X (No.2465-3) covering an area of 2482.83 sq. kms, (3) Offshore Indus Y (No. 2465-4) covering an area of 2482.33 sq, kms and (4) Offshore Indus Z (No.2466-6) covering an area of 2489.49 sq. kms.
The minimum financial commitment for these blocks is US $ 32.8 million. The Company however plans to invest more than US $ 200 million subject to availability of viable structures after conducting seismic survey. The execution of the new Production Sharing Agreements forms an integral part of the Government’s drive to attract investment in the oil and gas sector and boost Pakistan’s economy by substituting imported oil and gas with indigenous supplies.
To meet this objective, the unexplored offshore region is being given special emphasis where an oil and gas discovery can provide a major impetus for attracting new investments significantly affecting exploration landscape of Pakistan. The Government is making all out efforts to enhance oil and gas exploration activities through investment friendly policies. Therefore, in order to provide further incentives Petroleum (Exploration and Production ) Policy 2007 has recently been promulgated which is rated as one of the best policies in the region.
M/s Niko is a Canadian company, which has considerable success in the Sub-Continent being the joint venture partner in a very big discovery made in India during 2002 which is expected to commence production of around 2 billion cubic feet gas per day in 2008. The Company has multiple exploration discoveries and production in India and Bangladesh.
The execution ceremony was witnessed by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Ahsanullah Khan and Additional Petroleum Secretary, Shaukat Hayat Durrani, Senior Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Canada, Ms. Marilyn Denton and other Government officials. The Exploration Licenses and Petroleum Sharing Agreements were signed by Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources, Farrakh Qayyum, Director General Petroleum Concessions, Mohammad Naeem Malik, Sr. Joint Secretary/Managing Director GHPL, Jehangir Khan and Chief Operating Officer and Director, Niko, William T. Homaday.