QUETTA, Dec 27: Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani has formally inaugurated the first well of a new gas field in the Khost area of Ziarat district. The governor said on Monday that the discovery of new gas reserves was “a big milestone in the development of the area”.

The Mari Gas Company had launched exploration work in the Khost gas field in collaboration with the Czech Republic’s MFD Exploration Company about three months ago and successfully discovered new gas reserves.

The company has spent Rs240 million on the digging of the first gas well, which will provide 6.867 MMSCF daily.

Earlier the company had spent Rs60 million on a survey.

He said that although these new gas reserves were not very big they would still be profitable. According to him, a purification plant would be needed for purifying the gas before using it.