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Petroleum Services

53 blocks offered at Pakistan's PEPC 2009

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MPNR) (www.mpnr.gov.pk), on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, organized a Petroleum Exploration Promotion Conference (PEPC) (www.pepc2009.com) in July 2009.

The aim of the conference is to promote the upstream oil and gas business in Pakistan and highlight the potential investment opportunities in the country, with emphasis on the recently approved Petroleum Policy 2009.

In conjunction with PEPC 2009, MPNR invited bids for the grant of petroleum exploration rights (exploration license) for 53 onshore blocks covering an area of 104,883 square kilometres in three zones of relative prospectivity and geological risks in the country. Out of the 53 blocks on offer, 23 blocks are located in Zone I (high risk, high cost area), 17 blocks are located in Zone II (medium risk, high-medium cost area) and 13 blocks are in Zone III (low risk, low cost area).

Details of the blocks on offer are as follows:

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The conferences will be held in London (23-24 July), Houston (27-28 July) and Calgary (30-31 July). Bid documents are available from the office of the Director General Petroleum Concession (DGPC) from 15 July 2009.

Companies are required to submit their bids by 10:00 hours (Pakistan Standard Time) on 31 August 2009.

Map: Blocks on offer in PEPC 2009 (red shading). Source: PetroView®

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During the period immediately after Pakistan gained independence in 1947, oil production was limited and gas production did not exist. Over 79% of Pakistan's energy needs are met through oil and gas, making it a priority sector in Pakistan. Heavy dependence on imported oil and volatility in the supply of imported oil led Pakistan to adopt consistent policies to encourage foreign investment in the upstream oil and gas sector to optimise the use of indigenous hydrocarbon resources.

To protect and promote foreign investment in the sector, the Government enacted Foreign Investment Protection Law in 1976 and introduced Petroleum Policy in 1991. The Petroleum Policy was revised in 1993, 1994 and 1997, and was overhauled in 2001 and 2009 to ensure Pakistan remained an attractive location in the global exploration market.

Pakistan completed a Basin Study Project in April 2009 to produce a consistent overview of all the basins to review the main prospective petroleum play fairways of Pakistan. While the onshore basins have had a number of discoveries, the offshore basins are relatively under-explored and are a main area of focus for the Government of Pakistan.

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