KARACHI, May 17: Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said on Wednesday that the government was fully supporting the foreign and local companies that were investing in oil and gas sector of the country.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of fourth Pakistan Oil, Gas & Energy Exhibition & Conference (POGEE 2006), co-locating International Fire & Security Exhibition at the Expo Centre here, Mr Ghani said that around 100 licences had been issued to various international companies for oil and gas exploration in the country especially in Balochistan.

He said that recently Mari Gas Company had succeeded in discovering gas reserves in the northern parts of Balochistan.

“Balochistan is rich in oil, gas and mineral deposits and a lot of work is going on in exploration of these natural resources in the province,” he added.

He disclosed that a joint venture of two Canadian companies in cooperation with Government of Balochistan to discover more copper deposits was in process. “This project is the 7th largest cooper project in the world”, he added.

Appreciating the exhibition Mr Ghani said that it was an important event to showcase latest technologies in oil and gas and fire and security sectors and would also help promote investment in the country.

Aasim A Siddiqui of Pegasus Consultancy said that more than 200 companies from 22 countries were participating in both the exhibitions.

He said that oil, gas and energy sector of Pakistan had been growing at a much faster pace than the average GDP growth. He further said that Pakistan had now become the third largest consumer of natural gas in the transport industry and was poised to become one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world.

The exhibitions will conclude on May 20 where large scale trade deals and joint ventures are expected to take place between government and private sector organisations.