ISLAMABAD: The state-run Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) on Wednesday hit a record production level of 50,172 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, securing 57 per cent share in the country’s total production of about 88,000 bpd .

“The crossing of 50,000 bpd psychological barrier is a historic moment. It has been our long-standing aspiration for decades,” said Zahid Mir, the chief executive officer of the company at a news conference. Pakistan meets around 12pc of its oil requirement from indigenous resources.

On top of that, the company is all set to inject about 4,000 barrels of additional oil per day, 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas and 400 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, starting with fewer quantities in the first week of December and then gradually going up. This addition would come from Kunar Pasakhi Deep field in Sindh which had been held up due to disputes and court cases.

He said the OGDCL’s production has hovered between 35,000-45,000 bpd. Last year, it produced about 41,000 bpd. He said the company had taken in hand an aggressive exploration and development programme in the last few years to take advantage of a slowdown in drilling activities in the Middle East and around the world.

Four fresh seismic crews have started operations in Kharan, Pasni, Gwadar, Zhob and Musa Khel in Balochistan

As part of this aggressive strategy, the country’s largest oil producer introduced four fresh seismic crews into untapped Balochistan which has been “inaccessible due to security situation for a long time”. These crews had started operations in Kharan, Pasni, Gwadar, Zhob and Musa Khel.

Mr Mir said it was also for the first time that nine seismic crews of the company were simultaneously working in various parts of the country at present. The number of such crews never went beyond five in the past, he claimed.

Moreover, two crews were currently operating in two areas – Wali and Baratai in Latambar Block – of Federally Administered Tribal Areas which were also inaccessible to oil companies in the past due to security reasons. He said the additional seismic, exploration and drilling activities had become possible due to improved overall security environment, particularly in Balochistan and frontier regions.

He said these activities were expected to enable enhanced drilling of wells leading to new hydrocarbon finds. Assisted by OGDCL board of directors chairman Zahid Muzaffar, Mr Mir said the major challenge for the company was not only to sustain this production level but also enhance it that was expected to come true from fresh entries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Responding to question, Mr said the reason behind starting more exploration activities in Balochistan and KP instead of Punjab was the possibility of greater prospects in areas that were so far out of bound for exploration and development companies and the presence of large hydrocarbon reserve base. Punjab on the other hand had largely been over explored. “We are looking for bit discoveries,” he said explaining the remaining areas in Punjab had smaller deposits.

He said Kohlu and Block 28 in Balochistan were considered two largest reserve bases in Balochistan, but were still not accessible for exploration.

Responding to a question, Zahid Muzaffar said the rules required that strategic oil stocks should not fall below 20 days of consumption requirement but said he was not aware of the stock position given the fact that his company was a producer and not a refining or marketing company.

Published in Dawn November 24th, 2016