February 23, 2006	Thursday	Muharram 24, 1427

BUDAPEST, Feb 22: Hungarian oil and gas group MOL said on Wednesday that test data from drills in the Tal block gas and oil field in Pakistan were encouraging but still in an early stage.

MOL said testing drills and the technical appraisal of the Manzalai-2 well in the Tal block, located in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, have not finished.

“Although the test data to this point is encouraging, without the final results any speculation about the Tal block or the latest finds are therefore premature,” MOL said in a statement.

Local media on Wednesday cited a news agency report that MOL had found natural gas in the field.

MOL said it would give information about the findings after the testing of Manzalai-2 is completed.

MOL has a 10 per cent stake in a consortium which includes Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL) and Government Holdings Ltd (GHPL), with MOL as an operator.—Reuters