Pakistan signs Mou to explore oil

Islamabad: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Italian energy company, Eni S.p.A, on Wednesday singed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to undertake joint oil and gas exploration venture. The Italian company will forge venture with Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) to explore oil and gas reserves in the country.

Petroleum and Natural Resources Secretary Mahmood Saleem Mahmood and Chief Executive Officer of Eni S.p.A Paolo Scraoni signed the MoU at Board of Investment (BoI) here and also exchanged the signed papers pertaining to the agreement. Later talking to media, Scraoni said that the company had an investment plan of 150 million dollars for the next year and its investment was currently amounting to 50 million dollars to 100 million dollars annually in Pakistan.

He said that the MOU was also intended to identify possible areas of future collaborations in term of joint technical studies, joint initiatives and to explore potential business opportunities in the oil and gas upstream, midstream and downstream sectors in Pakistan.

It include jointly explore opportunities for fast track development and use of technologically advanced applications in already discovered or in-production oil and gas fields operated by Pakistani State Oil Companies.

Review farm-in and farm-out opportunities in existing exploration licenses of the Pakistani State Oil Companies and Eni, ensure technology transfer through various means, including inter-company staff secondments, training events and technical and operating activities reviews. He said that Eni was an integrated energy company, which operated in 70 countries in the activities of finding, producing, transporting, transforming and marketing oil and gas.

He said that Eni wished to expand its business presence in the oil and gas sector in Pakistan and strengthen its position within Pakistan. Eni initially entered Pakistan in 2000 by acquisition of a small independent company, British Borneo, which had small, non-operated assets. In 2001, Eni acquired LASMO plc, holding company of LASMO Pakistan.

With this acquisition, he said, Eni became the largest foreign exploration and production company in Pakistan. Currently, Eni Pakistan holds interest in seven development leases and 14 exploration blocks, covering acreage of approximately 36,000 kilometres.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Dr Asim, Federal Minister for Investment Waqar Ahmed Khan, Minister of State for Investment and Chairman (BOI) Saleem H. Mandviwalla, Investment Secretary Tariq Puri and Additional Secretary of Petroleum Ministry GA. Sabri were also present during the ceremony. Earlier during the day, the Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni called on the Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, said a statement.

The Prime Minister told the delegation that Pakistan offered enormous investment opportunities, particularly in the field of hydrocarbons, as there was a surge in demand in the energy and power sectors. Terming energy exploration as one of the most under-explored sectors in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said the demand was increasing rapidly and the government was encouraging investment to enhance production in this field.

He said the government was continuously monitoring the demand and supply situation of energy and would take every step to meet the demand of energy to maintain the momentum of growth and development. He said local as well as global companies were being encouraged to invest more in this sector and the response in this regard is encouraging.

Due to high demand in energy and power sector, the Prime Minister proposed that Eni Italy could also explore possibilities to invest in relevant sectors like power generation, petrochemicals, besides doing more exploration in the field of oil and gas.

The Prime Minister, while commending Eni Italy for its exploration activities, said that the government of Pakistan desired that Eni