DUBAI, March 4: Austrian oil company OMV will begin exploration of a new gas field in Pakistan, its third in the country, in two weeks, a senior company official said on Monday.

“Spudding of the Gambat-1 well will begin in about two weeks time,” Ashiq Hussain, OMV’s Middle East and Far East manager, told AFP.

“It has good potential of discovering our third gas field in Pakistan,” Hussain said, adding that OMV will be the largest foreign gas producer in Pakistan with production of more than 400 million cubic feet per day (12 million cubic metres).

Production at the Miano field will come fully on stream next month with an initial output of 90 million cubic feet per day (2.7 million cubic metres), Hussain said.

Miano’s output is meant entirely for domestic consumption.

OMV has a 17.7-per cent stake in the consortium developing Miano and a 19.7-per cent stake in the consortium developing another Pakistani gas field, Sawan.

The combined production of the two fields is estimated at around 800 billion cubic feet (24 billion cubic metres).

Sawan is expected to come on stream in May 2003, with an initial daily output of 170 million cubic feet (5.1 million cubic metres).

Sawan’s production will double under a second phase of development to reach 340 million cubic feet (10.2 million cubic metres) per day in 2004, Hussein said.—AFP