Oil, Gas and Refinery Projects update

[ghazi52]

 

[ghazi52]

KARACHI: Pakistan, after a gap of nine years, begins offshore drilling to find estimated huge oil and gas deposits in ultra-deep waters at an estimated cost of over $100 million.

“The drilling is scheduled to commence tonight (Friday),” an official at the ministry of petroleum told The Express Tribune on Friday.

The US firm ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest oil and gas firms, in collaboration with Italian firm Eni Pakistan Limited, is drilling in ultra-deep waters some 280 kilometres away from Karachi coast.

 

[ghazi52]

Offshore Drilling has started in Pakistan,

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Insha'Allah Pak is going to be the energy hub and router b/w the largest producers and the largest consumers in these parts of the world....

 

[ghazi52]

Here are the facts about Possible oil and Gas reserves discovery on the Shores of Arabian Sea

1. Pakistan as a consortium of foreign and local companies have started offshore spud work some 230 kilometres from Karachi where reserves are likely to be more than the Sui field.

2. three supply vessels and two helicopters, started drilling work

3. drilling would be carried out at Kekra-1 of the Indus G-block around 5,800 meters deep from the sea level

4. expected to be completed in a period of two months at a cost of $70-$80 million, to be contributed equally by the joint venture partners.

5. joint venture has been formed by ENI, ExxonMobil (that has come back to Pakistan after nearly three decades), Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), and Pakistan Petroleum (PPL) to spud the Kekra-1 exploration well.

6. By or before April 2019, the companies will be in a position to assess the potential hydrocarbon flows from this offshore drilling along with their economic viability.

7. Setting up the necessary infrastructure to make hydrocarbon flows commercially available can take 3-5 years

8. Pakistan has drilled 17 offshore wells to date and most failed to reach the target reservoirs.

9. well’s diameter is 18 to 24 inches. Right now they are at depth of 1900 feet, hence its ultra-deep exploration

10. The discovery is anticipated to yield gas flows which can be as big as Sui field, with estimated reserves of 3 to 8 trillion cubic feet (TCF), or 25-40 percent of Pakistan’s total gas reserves.

11. If it will be a successful discovery, then for next 25 to 30 years, Pakistan can use this gas.

 

[ghazi52]

ISLAMABAD, ( 21st Jan, 2019 ) :After a study made startling revelations about fast depletion of existing hydrocarbon reservoirs in the country, the Petroleum Division has devised a strategy to reinvigorate oil and gas exploration activities by awarding more blocks and providing more incentives in both offshore and onshore drilling.

"On November 26, 2018, as many as 10 new exploration blocks have been awarded through open bidding and the same number of new blocks will be put up for the bidding during first quarter of 2019," official sources told APP.

According to data of the recent study, they feared that the existing deposits would further deplete 60 percent by the year 2027 and underlined the need for stepping up exploration activities in potential areas on war-footing.

"The gap between demand and supply is widening with each passing day, increasing our reliance on imported petroleum products including gas," the sources said.

They said during last five to six years, new exploration licences had not been awarded despite the fact the existing reserves were depleting fast and the country needed some big discoveries.

Replying to a question, the sources said "currently around 72 cases with regard to exploration licences are in litigation, even some are pending since 1989, due to flaws in the system." They said 15 percent needs of the petroleum products were being met through local production, while 85 percent through imports, for which on average $ 18 billion per year year were spent on import of petroleum products including gas.

To reduce import bill and achieve self-sufficiency in the petroleum sector, the sources said a radical and innovative petroleum policy was being worked out to attract local and foreign companies for investment in onshore and offshore exploration ventures in potential areas. The new policy would be finalized, keeping in view future needs of power and industrial sectors, they added.

Besides, they said a mega oil city, consisting of a oil refinery and petrochemical complex, was being set up at the Gwadar deep seaport city in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, world leading companies Exxonmobil and ENI had already started offshore drilling in the Indus-G block

 

[ghazi52]

E&P firms pursuing target to drill 90 wells

ISLAMABAD - Exploration and Production (E&P) companies, operating in different potential areas across the country, are working on ambitious targets of drilling 90 wells and achieving production of 33.50 million barrel (mbbl) crude oil and 1.473 trillion cubic feet (tcf) natural gas during the current fiscal year.

Under the plan, as many as 50 exploratory and 40 developmental wells would be drilled to meet the indigenous production target, official sources told APP.

Indigenous crude oil production meets only 15 percent of total petroleum products requirement of 26.4 million tons, while 85 percent met through imports of crude oil and refined products.

 

[ghazi52]

GO and Siemens come together for SAP S/4Hana

Gas and Oil Pakistan Limited (GO), the fastest growing Oil Marketing Company (OMC) and Siemens came together for SAP S/4Hana Implementation, which will cover the entire gamut of processes. Siemens will extend its services for the implementation as well as on-going support and maintenance of the SAP ERP software. To celebrate the commencement of this project, a signing ceremony was held on January 17, 2019 at GO’s corporate office in Lahore. The ceremony was attended from GO by Director/board member Bilal A Ansari, Chief Operating Officer Zeeshan Tayyeb, Head of Finance Afsar Aamer Ali Khan, DGM – Finance and Company Secretary Zain Jaffery, and DGM – System Field Support and Training Operations Muhammad Aslam. Head of SAP Naukhez Arslan and Tayyeb signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies.

 

[ghazi52]

Saudi Arabian investment in Pakistan
Oil, Gas and Refinery Sector

$11 billion refinery at Gwadar ( $10 billion oil refinery and $1 billion petrochemical complex )

Installation of two regasified Liquefied Petroleum Gas (RLNG) plants with an estimated cost of $4 billion

Petrochemical complex would develop POL by-product at the Gwadar city an ultimate destination of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

The new refinery would have the capacity to filter 200,000 to 300,000 barrels per day, 50 percent crude oil is imported to meet energy needs

Mega oil city to be constructed on around 80,000 acres land with the purpose to refine and store imported oil for onward transportation to China using the CPEC route, besides developing fuel supply chain for landlocked Central Asian states . Fuel transportation to China via Pakistan would take just 7 days presently oil vessels take 40 days to reach Western China

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to form JWG for oil projects

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Monday agreed to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) for setting up $11 billion state-of-the-art oil refinery and petrochemical complex at the Gwadar Port.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Saudi Minister for Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih, a statement issued by the Petroleum Division said.

Additional Secretary Petroleum Dr Tanveer Qureshi, Joint Secretary Tauqeer Hussain, Pakistan State Oil Managing Director Jehangir Ali Shah, Director General (Oil) Jamil Saleem, DG (Minerals) Muhammad Iqbal and Director (Refinery) Babar Majeed were in attendance.

 

[ghazi52]

Mari Petroleum to invest $45m in new exploration blocks

Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL), an oil and gas exploration firm, has acquired two new blocks in Sindh and tribal areas with combined minimum financial commitment of $45.17 million.

“The government of Pakistan had invited bids for 10 exploration blocks for the grant of exploration rights. The company submitted bids for two blocks, ie Wali West block, located mainly in tribal areas, and Taung block, located in Sindh, based on their potential with combined minimum financial commitment of $45.17 million,” the company said in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

 

[ghazi52]

PM orders increase in oil reserves

March 6, 2019

Prime Minister Imran Khan.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the Petroleum Division on Tuesday to increase the strategic oil reserves to provide an uninterrupted supply to the armed forces in the wake of ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India.

Chairing a meeting to review progress on energy-related projects, Khan directed for chalking out a strategy to enhance the strategic oil reserves to handle any war-like situation so that the armed forces could be provided uninterrupted supply to handle the possible aggression by India.

Finance Minister Asad Umar, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, prime minister’s advisers Abdul Razzak Dawood and Dr Ishrat Hussain, Petroleum Secretary Mian Asad Hayauddin and senior officers attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed progress on the petroleum and gas-related projects. During the meeting, an official said, an overview of all gas projects like TAPI, offshore gas pipeline, IP and North-South Gas Pipeline projects was given.

The meeting was informed that Pakistan had sufficient oil stocks in the country and that the oil marketing companies had also been directed to maintain enough stocks to provide oil supply to the armed forces in case of any Indian strike.

On the TAPI project, officials said that it was at an advanced stage and the TAPI Company was going to achieve financial close. The officials said that the project had been inaugurated in Turkmenistan and Afghanistan but Pakistan had yet to hold the inauguration ceremony.

On the Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline Project, the officials informed the prime minister that progress on IP project could not be made because of the US sanctions imposed on Iran.

It was also informed that Pakistan and Russia had signed a deal for an offshore gas pipeline project. Under the deal, Russia would conduct a feasibility study to build the project to provide 500 mmcfd to 1bcfd Russian gas to Pakistan.

The meeting was informed that the North-South pipeline project to be laid from Karachi to Lahore to transport imported gas. Officials said that the US sanctions had also caused a delay in implementing this project.

Russia had proposed different structure of companies to implement this project but the issue had not been resolved, officials told the meeting, adding that Russia had also proposed new model of entity to implement the project. The proposal had been forwarded to Law Division to vet the draft.

During the meeting, LNG-related issues also came under discussion. It was informed that the government wanted to set up one more LNG terminal. This terminal, officials said, would be set up by private sector and that no government guarantee would be involved.

It was also informed that the government wanted to build underground gas storages, which could be used in case of emergencies. The Petroleum Division informed the meeting that these storages would help address the issue of gas crisis in the country, especially in the winter season.

 

[ghazi52]

Setting up of 3rd LNG terminal ordered
March 06, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Without a scientific study, the government on Tuesday ordered setting up of a third LNG processing terminal on a fast-track basis for completion before next winter at a new location – Jharri Creek/Chann Wadoo – and approved about Rs1.63 billion supplementary grants for security improvement and facilities for paramilitary forces.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet presided over by Finance Minister Asad Umar.

The meeting was informed that the Ministry of Interior had demanded about Rs2.9bn supplementary grants repaid; replacement of security cameras and payment of rentals for hired vehicles; raising of five additional wings of Pakistan Rangers and their other facilities; and development of e-passport project in Islamabad, but the finance ministry agreed to only Rs1.8bn.

The ECC, however, allowed Rs683 million in view of some other demands in the given regional environment. The meeting also approved Rs769m in technical supplementary grant against four projects funded by International Narcotics and Law Enforcement-Pakistan (INL-P), US Embassy Islamabad for upgradation of Frontier Constabulary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Training Centre Warsak, construction of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas Levies Training Centre at Shakas, construction of 10 Fata Levies checkposts and extension of some offices of the Federal Investigation Agency, Islamabad.

The meeting also approved another Rs180m supplementary grant for hiring of commercial banks for marketing of Pakistan Banao Certificates abroad.

The ECC was given a detailed briefing by Ministry of Maritime Affairs on challenges being faced in the movement of LNG ships in the existing channel at Port Qasim that repeatedly hampered normal cargo traffic sometimes for weeks. It was reported that serious traffic congestion was being witnessed at Port Qasim, due to issues arising out of incoming LNG vessels.

According to the briefing, maritime affairs ministry decided in December last year to undertake a scientific study, through a third party consultant, and PQA had initiated the process by inviting applications last month to hire a consultant to undertake LNG Zone study, now expected to be completed in six months.

The ECC was informed that ideally the process of setting up of an additional LNG terminal should begin after the scientific study but given the projected growth in LNG demand in the future, the committee had ordered last month to expeditiously finalise the proposal for establishing an additional terminal on fast-track basis.

The maritime affairs minister said because of the urgency, Jharri Creek/Chann Wadoo appeared to be the most appropriate area for setting up the new terminal as it will have no adverse impact on normal port traffic, since the site was on an alternate channel, away from the main port, which would be connected through pipeline network of about 25km.

Also, the drought/depth at the location was feasible to accommodate large LNG carriers (Q-Flex vessels), thus reducing some charges. Moreover, the proposed site should be developed as a future LNG zone and PQA should be authorised to invite applications for development of one LNG Terminal within twenty months of award of contract. PQA board should also be advised to work out the modalities to ensure safeguarding the interest and with proposed terms and conditions.

The meeting was also explained that existing two LNG terminals at PQA were contracted on take-or-leave basis costing the government more than $0.5m per day, having additional undue financial burden. There was also the need to ensure that the supply of LNG was not interrupted due to war or any other contingency and this should be in the contract that FSRU is not withdrawn by the owner on any pretext whatsoever.

The ECC directed PQA and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority to expedite the process of granting licence to ensure that at least one LNG terminal is available by next winter given the available experience in existing terminals. Also, the future terminals would await result of the scientific study of PQA and be contracted without any guaranteed payment by the government, on build-own-and-transfer basis.

The committee approved a request of the Ministry of Energy to allocate up to nine mmcfd gas from Fazl X-1 field, Matiari of Pakistan Petroleum Ltd to SSGCL.

 

[ghazi52]

Hascol’s oil storage capacity becomes largest in private sector

March 7, 2019

Hascol, which also appears to be the second largest oil marketing company in terms of market share, which stands at 13.7% at present, after PSO, which has a market share of 37%, will open 100 more filling stations nationwide in 2019. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Hascol Petroleum Limited has become the largest oil marketing company in the private sector in terms of oil storages nationwide, a top official said on Wednesday.

“Hascol, in collaboration with Dutch company Vitol, has added 232,000 cubic metres of oil storage capacity at Port Qasim (Karachi) with an investment of $65 million,” Chief Executive Officer Saleem Butt told The Express Tribune.

“With this, our oil storage capacity has surged to 28 days (of consumption) from 16 days earlier,” he said, adding that other oil marketing companies had storage facilities for less than 20 days each.

Hascol Terminals Limited, an associated company of Hascol Petroleum Limited, has completed the process of commissioning its storage facility at Port Qasim.

“The terminal…has started operations. First shipment of motor gasoline (petrol) will reach on March 6, 2019 (Wednesday),” said Company Secretary Zeeshanul Haq in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday.

“With this, the total installed storage capacity surged to 400,000 tons with us. This has turned Hascol into a company that owns the largest oil storage facility in the private sector and second largest in the country after state-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO), which manages 1.2 million tons of storage facility,” Butt said.

The latest storage facility at Port Qasim is connected with 700km pipeline of Pak Arab Pipeline Company (Papco) from Karachi to central Punjab. The facility will greatly help in ending blackouts at fuel stations in Punjab. “Sometimes, a three-day suspension in supplies from Karachi to Punjab (via roads) results in blackouts at petrol pumps in Punjab,” he elaborated.

He said it took almost two years to establish the latest storage facility at Port Qasim. Hascol has 49% shareholding while Dutch company Vitol owns the majority 51% shareholding in the facility. National Bank of Pakistan has also played a role in construction of the facility.

“Vitol has 28% shareholding in the overall business of Hascol Petroleum Limited,” he said. The company, which also appears to be the second largest oil marketing company in terms of market share, which stands at 13.7% at present, after PSO, which has market share of 37%, will open 100 more filling stations nationwide in 2019.

Pumps network

At present, the company runs its business at 590 sites and is expected to manage 690 pumps by December 2019.

“We have a plan to add 100 sites every year till we reach 1,200 sites in the country,” the CEO said.

Most of the new pumps will obviously be opened in Punjab as 60% population of the country resides there and 70% of demand for petroleum products comes from the province. “Pumps will be opened in that ratio,” he said.

The demand for petrol was on the rise despite economic slowdown in the country, he said, adding, “petrol sales have surged 9% in the last two months in contrast to 20% drop in diesel sales.”

Lubricant plant by May

Butt said Hascol, in collaboration with foreign firm FUCHS, is in final stages of setting up a lubricant blending plant.

The plant, which is being established with an investment of $20 million, is targeted to start production from May 1, 2019.

Hascol has started construction of a lube oil blending plant to produce FUCHS-branded lubricants and greases in Pakistan.

 

[ghazi52]

Govt to Install 26 LPG Plants in Balochistan Worth Rs. 48 Billion

The federal government has released Rs. 48 billion to establish 26 LPG air-mix plants in Balochistan to meet the gas demand in the province.

Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar announced this while addressing a Senate session on Friday.

Mr. Ghulam Sarwar informed the upper house that there is no unannounced gas load-shedding in any part of the country.

He said the government was determined to eliminate system constraints so that the issue of low gas pressure can be resolved.

The minister told Senators that the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) had started injecting RLNG which helped reduce the demand and supply gap of natural gas in the country.

Petroleum minister highlighted the measures his ministry was taking to mitigate gas theft across the country.

It should be mentioned here that the recent gas crisis in the country caused industries in Sindh and Punjab to close down several times in the last couple of months.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered an inquiry into the matter, and the MDs of SNGPL and SSGCL were removed on the recommendations of the inquiry report.

The government had to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar to meet the rising demand in the winter season