Govt to form new zones for oil, gas exploration.

Byline: Zafar Bhutta

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday gave in principle approval to unveil a comprehensive package which includes offering better prices to oil and gas exploration companies drilling in risky areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Under the new plan, there would be a shift from regulatory framework to information based system to end bureaucratic hurdles for exploration companies doing business in Pakistan.

The government would offer better 'wellhead price' to the oil and gas exploration companies in two new zones comprising a high-risk area of Balochistan and the K-P areas bordering with Afghanistan in order to boost oil and gas production. The government has also decided to set up a special force to ensure the security of foreign companies.

Currently, there are three zones for onshore exploration activities based on risk and investment.

Zone-I comprises west Balochistan, Pishin and Potohar basins; Zone-II consists of Kirthar, east Balochistan, Punjab, and Suleman basins while Zone-III includes the Lower Indus Basin.

The government plans to introduce two more zones one comprising frontier areas of K-P and the other risky areas for Balochistan. An official said the government would offer a better price to companies working in these two new zones to attract foreign companies.

Officials said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) last government focused on imported gas and not a single new block was offered to gas companies. The present government had offered 10 blocks but the response was not encouraging. In a bid to attract more companies, the government wants to announce a compressive package to offer to foreign companies to invest in Pakistan.

They said the Petroleum Division on Monday also informed the prime minister that it wanted to...