ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: The government on Friday executed an assignment agreement with the Government Holding (Pvt) Limited (GHPL), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Petrobras Oil and Gas (PO&G) for assigning 50 per cent working interest from OGDCL to Petrobras over Block No 2265-1 (Offshore Indus-G) covering an area of 7466 sq kms for undertaking exploration activities in this block.
The OGDCL currently holds 100 per cent participating working interest in the block.
The execution of the assignment agreement with Petrobras forms an integral part of the government’s drive to attract foreign investment in oil and gas sector.
According to a press release, Petrobras is a leading exploration and production company of the world and is a major player in offshore exploration with tremendous expertise in offshore drilling.
The company is also engaged in research and refining of crude oil and its byproducts.
The company is presently working in 23 countries and currently holds 97 production platforms, producing more than 2.0 million barrels of oil equivalent to reserves of 11.77 billion barrels of oil and gas.The company is associated with 71 oil companies, and is the operator of 170 of the 357 blocks it participated in.
The OGDCL is the largest public limited company engaged in exploration and production activities in the country for the last four decades.
Presently, the OGDCL is 100 per cent owner in 27 exploration blocks. In addition, it is the operator, as well as working interest owner, in 13 exploration blocks and partner in another six exploration blocks operated by other exploration and production companies.
The OGDCL has 39 mining and development and production leases which are operated by the OGDCL and is partner in 33 non-operated mining and development and production leases.
The execution ceremony was held in the presence of Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and Mohammad Naseer Mengal, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources.
The assignment agreement was signed by Ahmad Waqar, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Resources, on behalf of the President of Pakistan, Samir Passos Awad, executive manager, Petrobras, Mohammad Naeem Malik, director-general, Petroleum Concessions, Khurshid Anwar, CEO/managing director, GHPL and Arshad Nasar, chairman/CEO, OGDCL.