April 19, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1429

SINGAPORE, April 18: The Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd announced on Friday a small oil discovery in Sindh, raising its oil output by 1,150 barrels per day (bpd).

The OGDCL has ramped up investment in an effort to reduce Pakistan’s dependence on imported fuel at a time of record high prices.

“This is a small discovery for OGDCL with a per share impact of 0.17 paisa per share. We expect production from this discovery to start in the next 18 months,” said Umer Bin Ayaz, an analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd.

The discovery was made in the company’s wholly-owned Exploratory Moolan North Well No. 1.

The OGDCL reported flat July-December earnings, and is due to report nine-month results to end-March on April 28.

Company’s oil production totalled 45,221 bpd and 1,171 million metric cubic feet a day in March, according to its website.

Last week, Pakistan finalised plans to issue an exchangeable bond with an option for OGDCL shares, to be jointly managed by ABN AMRO, Barclays and

JPMorgan.—Reuters