E and P companies make 110 discoveries in five years.

ISLAMABAD -- Oil and gas Exploration and Production (E and P) companies, operating in different hydrocarbon potential areas of the country, have made around 110 discoveries during the last five years, with accumulative initial flow rate of 30,383 Barrel Per Day (BPD) oil and 926.6 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) gas.

'The companies found 83 oil and gas deposits in Sindh, 13 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 in Punjab and two in Balochistan during the period from July 2014 to October, 2019 ,' according to official data available with reporter.

Over two dozen oil and gas companies have spent around Rs400 billion in carrying out E and P activities to increase the national hydrocarbon base during 2013-14 to 2017-18.

The companies including Dewan Petroleum, Eni Pakistan, Hycarbex, MOL Pakistan, MPCL, Al-Haj, Nativus, New Horizon, OGDCL, OGIL, Tallahassee, OMV, OPL, PAIGE, OMV Maurice, PEL, POL, POGC, PPL,KPBV, RDC, Saif Energy, Tullow, UEPL and Chian ZhenHua incurred billions of rupees under their respective 'exploration licences/mining/ drilling and production leases.'

As per the data, both the public and private sector firms utilized funds amounting to Rs77.432 billion in 2013-14, Rs91.722 billion in 2014-15, Rs92.853 billion in 2015-16, Rs67.974 billion in 2016-17 and Rs70.314 billion in 2017-18 for E and P activities.

Meanwhile, another official document showed that Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and MOL Pakistan have collectively produced around 80.345 Million Barrel (MBL) oil and 700,885 Million Cubic Feet (MMCFT) gas from three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the five-year period.

The companies extracted 14.856 MBL oil from their respective Mardankhel, Maramzai,Nashpa, Manzalai, Makori Deep, Makori East, Makori, Chanda, Mela, Mamikhel, Tolanj and Tolang West fields of Hangu, Karak and Kohat districts in 2013-14. While, they produced 16.279 MBL oil, 15.851 MBL oil, 17.014 MBL oil and 16.344 MBL oil from the same fields during the years 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively.

Similarly, the OGDCL and MOL Pakistan extracted 700,885 MMCFT gas from their respective operational areas of the districts during the period under review.

The E and P firms produced 135,129.02 MMCFT gas, 131,207.15 MMCFT gas, 139,255.21 MMCFT gas, 144,116.48 MMCFT gas and 151,177.59 MMCFT gas during the years 2013-14,2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively.

According to the data about country's exploration history in oil...