ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday awarded five licences to the state-run Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC) for exploration in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces, with an investment of around $13.32 million in three years.

The Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCAs) and Exploration Licences (ELs) include Block No 3372-26 (Hazro), Block No 2972-7 (Vehari), Block No 2972-8 (Sutlej), Block No 2668-23 (Khewari East) and Block No 3471-1 (Nowshera).

These ELs and PCAs were signed by Secretary Petroleum Division Dr Arshad Mahmood and Director General Petroleum Concessions Abdul Jabbar Memon on behalf of the government while the OGDC was represented by its managing director Shahid Saleem Khan.

Hazro Block covering an area of 653.74 sq km is located in the districts of Attock, Swabi and Haripur of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Vehari Block covering an area of 2,487.28 sq km is located in the districts of Bahawalpur, Vehari and Lodhran in Punjab. Sutlej Block covering an area of 2,312.56 sq km is located in Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Vehari and Khanewal districts.

Khewari East covering an area of 1,451.53 sq km is located in Khairpur district of Sindh while the Nowshera Block covering an area of 1,711.06 sq km is located in Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera districts in KP

Minimum firm work commitment for these blocks is $13.32m over a period of three years. The company is obligated to spend a minimum of $30,000 per year in each block on social welfare schemes. Annual social welfare obligation in respect of these five blocks is $150,000.

The OGDC is a public limited company engaged in exploration and production activities in the country for the last five decades. It holds the largest share of oil at 41 per cent and gas at 36pc of the total reserves in the country.

The OGDC’s share of total oil and gas production in the country is 47pc and 29pc, respectively. The company is the operator of 46 exploration licences and holds working interest in seven other exploration blocks operated by various other E&P companies. The company is currently producing 36,058 barrel oil per day of crude oil, 1,023 million cubic feet per day of gas, 778 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas and 51 tonnes of sulphur per day.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2021