ISLAMABAD, June 5: The government on Tuesday granted an exploration licence to a joint venture of a local firm and the Kuwait Energy Company (KEC) for Kunri’s block 2468-7 in Sindh.

An official announcement said that the working interest of the local company, New Horizon Exploration and Production Limited (NHEPL), stood at 60 per cent, and that of the KEC at 40 per cent.

Simultaneously, a petroleum concession agreement was also executed.

Kunri’s Block 2468-7 lies in the four districts of Sindh in zone-III -- Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Mithi. The block’s total area is 2,485.93 square kilometers.

The joint venture intends to make an investment of over $16.05 million in Kunri Block to undertake G&G studies, 800 line kms 2D seismic data or 170 sq kms 3D seismic and drilling of three exploratory wells during the initial term of three years of phase-I.

The NHEPL is a new entrant in the upstream petroleum sector of Pakistan.

The company is being led by professional managers with extensive international experience in the E&P sector while KEC is a rapidly growing private sector Kuwaiti E&P company that is active in Egypt, Oman, Yemen, Indonesia, Syria and Russia.

The execution ceremony was witnessed by Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Aman Ullah Khan Jadoon, besides other officers.

The exploration licence and petroleum concession agreement were signed by the secretary of petroleum and natural resources Ahmad Waqar on behalf of the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Director-General Petroleum Concessions Mohammad Naeem Malik and Chairman and CEO of NHEPL Syed Wamiq Bokhari and chairman and MD of KEC Dr Manssour Aboukhamseem.