KARACHI, Oct 28: Pakistan Petroleum Limited, the country's second biggest exploration company, plans to drill 35 exploration and appraisal oil wells in the next five years and is seeking a joint venture to foray into international exploration.
The company, which held its annual shareholders meeting on Thursday, also said in its annual report that drilling on an offshore exploration well in Pasni-2 is likely to begin in December.
PPL, which operates the country's biggest Sui gas field, said it planned to increase drilling activity to build hydrocarbon reserves. Currently, the company is exploring for oil and gas in 14 blocks, eight of which are PPL operated and the remaining six are joint ventures.
The company said gas sales from the Sui field declined in the last financial year to 223,645m cubic feet compared with 241,010m cubic feet in the previous year due to lower deliverability of gas from the field caused by the depletion of reserves.
PPL contributes 30 per cent of the country's total natural gas production. The government owns a 78.4 per cent stake in PPL - 15 per cent is listed on the stock exchange and over six per cent is held by the International Finance Corporation.
DIVIDEND: The 53rd annual general meeting of PPL also approved the payment of final dividend at the rate of Rs2.5 per share (25 per cent) for the year ended June 30, 2004.
The meeting, presided over by PPL Chairman M.A.K. Alizai, also approved the audited accounts, including balance sheet for the financial year ending June 30 2004. The AGM approved a recommended final dividend of 25 per cent on the paid-up ordinary shares capital and 10pc on the paid-up preference share capital, in addition to an interim dividend of 20pc on ordinary and preference shares, which was paid to shareholders on Feb 27, 2004.
Mr Alizai said the company had recorded an all-time high after-tax profit of Rs6.617 billion during the year under review.
He said that this record profit was the reward of additional production from Sawan and Mazarani gas fields, high international prices and phased price increase under the new Sui and Kandhkot gas price agreement.
Last year, PPL earned a post-tax profit of Rs4.190 billion.
Mr Alizai said the company paid Rs13 billion to national exchequer on account of taxes, royalties, excise duty, sales tax and gas development surcharge.-Dow Jones Newswires/ APP