ISLAMABAD, March 16: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has launched an aggressive expansion plan costing about $20 million to double production capacity at the Adhi fields.

"The contract for the installation of the new plant to double the production capacity would be awarded within the next month," said Rizwan H Qidwai, Senior Manager Joint Operations PPL while briefing a group of journalists during a field visit to the plant at Adhi here on Tuesday.

The group was also taken to a rig where a well was being drilled in collaboration with a Chinese firm 'Great Wall', and was told that in addition to the new plant, Well No. 15 would be completed next year, while wells 16, 17 and 18 would be drilled within a period of three years after which the production would be doubled.

The current production from the Adhi field include 65 to 67 tons per day of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), 1300 to 2000 barrels per day of Natural Gas Liquids (NGL), Crude Oil 2500 to 3000 barrels per day and Natural Gas 20 million cubic feet (mmscfd).

The total gas production from the Adhi field is 32 per cent of the overall production of 2500 million cubic feet in the country, the basic thermal unit (btu) of which is 1100, better than that of Sui gas fields which is at 900 btu.

Located about 60-km south of Islamabad, Adhi field is a joint venture of PPL, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Pakistan Oilfield Limited (POL).

Muhammad Nawaz, the senior engineer productions PPL told the group that the estimated remaining recoverable reserves of the Adhi field as on January 2004 was 272 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 25 million barrels oil (crude plus NGL).

The mining lease area of Adhi field is 200 sq. km, he said adding that earlier the field was a joint venture of PPL, American International Oil Company (AMOCO) and government of Pakistan. Later AMOCO's 50 per cent share went to OGDCL in 1981 and government's 11 per cent was assigned to POL in 2003.

The customers of LPG, he explained, was WAK Gas, SUN Gas, CAP Gas and Caltex, while NGL and Crude Oil was provided to Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) Rawalpindi whereas the buyer of natural gas was Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited for onward distribution in the country.