KARACHI: Pakistan Oilf­i­elds Ltd (POL) reported hyd­r­ocarbons discovery in exploratory well in Tal block, Mamikhel South-01.

The company holds 21 per cent stake in the Tal Block, while the Ola and Gas and Development Company and Pakistan Petroleum own 27.8pc each. MOL is the operator of the block with 8.4pc interest.

The drilled well is currently under testing phase with initial flows reported to be 3,240 barrels per day of crude oil and 16.12mmcfd of gas at a choke size of 32/64” (optimal level).

This is about 15pc and 5pc of Tal block’s present total oil and gas production respectively (22,000bpd oil and 330mmcfd gas from eight fields as of July).

Analyst Muhammad Saad Ali at Intermarket Securities said it was the 10th discovery in Tal block, where the first one was made in December 2002 (Manzalai) and the last (Makori Deep) in June 2016 and added to production by July 2017.

Based on management guidance, Mamikhel South will likely be added to production in a shorter time period. Given the discovery’s proximity to another field, Mamikhel, it will likely be connected to the Makori Gas Processing Facility.

“The discovery was thou­ght to be material, and it com­es at a time when overall hyd­r­o­carbon production in Paki­stan is on a decline, and rese­rve replacement has been paltry of late”, analyst said.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2020