ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Pakistan granted an offshore oil and gas exploration licence on Friday to a consortium led by the state-run Government Holding Private Limited (GHPL).

Under the concession the company and its five Pakistani and foreign partners will spend $18 million to drill an exploration well in the Indus E Block off the coast of Sindh province in 2006, the Ministry of Petroleum said in a statement.

The block, covering an area of 7,389.95 sq km (2,850 sq miles), is about 150 km (100 miles) off the coast of Karachi in water more than 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) deep, it said.

The other companies in the GHPL-led consortium – Shell Development and Offshore Pakistan, Premier Oil Pakistan Offshore, Kufpec Pakistan, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited and Pakistan Petroleum Limited — will take part in the exploration work, the ministry said.

“The execution of the new production sharing agreement forms an integral part of the government’s drive to attract private investment, particularly direct foreign investment into the oil and gas sector,” it said.

Pakistan’s liberal exploration policy has attracted interest from foreign firms in recent years, making oil and gas the largest foreign investment area, though wells drilled by Premier Oil this year turned out dry.

A consortium led by French oil major Total also made an unsuccessful attempt last year to find hydrocarbons in deep water off Karachi.

The country imports 85 per cent of its energy needs, including about $4 billion worth of oil a year, and is struggling to increase domestic oil production of about 65,000 barrels a day. It hopes to produce 100,000 barrels a day within five years.—Reuters