20 March 2004	Saturday	28 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, March 19: Foreign companies are showing keen interest in the oil and gas sector and feel that great investment and business potential lay in the energy sector of Pakistan.

The participants in the second "Pakistan oil, gas, energy exhibition and conference" being held at the Karachi Expo Centre from March 17-20, feel that Pakistan was emerging as a prolific investment ground for energy sector companies.

A large number of participating companies from around 28 countries were of the view that better business prospects of their products and services required onshore and offshore exploration, and development and production were there in the energy sector of Pakistan.

Foreign exhibitors expressed great satisfaction over negotiations and queries that they received from the visiting high-level officials from the government and private sector organizations.

Manufacturers of engines and power generation from Ukraine expect to obtain lucrative business as a result of this exhibition. The company also produces mobile power stations that are already in operation in Turkey and Brazil and feels that good market is there in Pakistan.

A Russian company in drilling field also expressed satisfaction over its contacts with the government authorities at the show and believes they could work in the gas sector in collaboration with public or private sector organizations.

Meanwhile, nine foreign speakers addressed the second day of the associated conference programme on 'Technical perspective and technologies on oil and gas industry.'

The technical session of the two-day conference was largely attended by key figures from oil and gas sector companies operating in the region. Speakers from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UK, Bahrain, China, Holland, Italy and the US highlighted various technical aspects of the upstream and downstream oil and gas industry.