The Pakistan Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) has started production at the Wali (Bettani) oil and gas field in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the company said in a press release.
OGDCL said it projects production of 10 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) of natural gas as well as 1000 barrels of oil per day. The company has a 100 percent stake in the oil and gas field.
OGDCL plans to drill two additional wells, Wali Deep #1 and Wali #02, in the coming months. The new wells will increase the field’s production to 50 MMcfd and 3,000 barrels of oil per day.
According to a statement obtained by the Business Recorder, initial production from the field will help save $43 million annually in foreign exchange. At full production by the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year, savings would exceed $176 million, the statement said.
OGDCL is Pakistan’s largest exploration and production company, with operations that include exploration, drilling operations services, production, reservoir management and engineering support. The company reportedly has the most extensive exploration acreage in Pakistan, covering more than 40 percent of the country’s total awarded acreage net of oil and gas hydrocarbons.
According to the company’s website, OGDCL’s exploration program includes the acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data rapidly followed by active drilling campaigns to replenish and augment hydrocarbon reserves and increase oil and gas production.
The state-owned company said it is focusing on intensifying field development activities, completing ongoing development projects and utilizing the latest production techniques to increase oil and gas production volumes from its fields. joint venture owned and operated.
OGDCL operates 50 oil and gas fields across Pakistan and 18 oil and gas processing plants. It has exceeded 50,000 barrels of crude oil production per day.
According to Pakistan’s finance division, the country “is producing a very limited percentage of oil to meet the country’s overall demand.” Local oil production is limited by technological, technical and financial constraints, which makes it necessary to import crude oil and other petroleum products in large quantities, he said. Between July 2021 and April 2022, oil import expenditures rose 95.9 percent to $17.03 billion compared to $8.69 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to the agency
Pakistan’s crude oil imports increased by 75.34% in value and 1.4% in quantity during the period. Similarly, liquefied natural gas saw an increase of 82.90% in value, while LPG imports also increased by 39.86% in the same period, he said.
Economic turmoil
Amid economic turmoil, Pakistan has seen several multinational companies exit the country. Notably, Shell PLC recently decided to sell its stake and ownership in Pak-Arab Pipeline Co. Fuel retailer Puma Energy exited in 2021, while trucking startup Trella decided to exit the business in April. Shell, one of Pakistan’s oldest multinational companies, operates more than 600 service stations and has been in the country for 75 years, according to a statement.
In March 2021, Eni SPA of Italy said it was selling its shares in its entities in Pakistan to Prime International Oil & Gas Company. The deal included interests in eight development and production leases in the Kithar Fold Belt and Middle Indus basins, as well as four exploration licenses in the offshore Indus and Middle Indus basins.
According to its website, Eni has been in Pakistan since 2000 in the exploration and production and gas and power sectors, although the company’s local development support in the country began in the 1970s. In 2019, Eni produced 37 billion cubic feet of gas and seven million barrels of oil from Pakistan, according to its website.
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