KARACHI: The joint venture of foreign and local companies has completed around 98 percent drilling near Karachi coast for the possible discovery of huge reservoirs of oil and gas, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Haider Zaidi said on Saturday.
The joint venture including ExxonMobil, ENI, PPL and OGDC is undertaking offshore drilling near Karachi coast. “The joint venture will drill around 5,500 meters and so far it has reached 5,392 meters,” the minister added.
“The nation will receive good news regarding discovery in next two weeks,” he added.
The minister was talking to media at an event to add another oil tanker to the fleet of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
He said that Pakistan annually paid around $4.5 billion as freight charges. “The addition of oil tanker to PNSC fleet will save huge foreign exchange reserves for the country,” he added.
Talking about the hike in prices of petroleum products, he said that when the PTI government took charge the international oil price was at $51 per barrel and it had reached now $70 per barrel.
Commenting on the ongoing negotiations for IMF loan program, he said that the present government was not willingly entering to IMF program. “We are taking loan to repay the old loans that were taken by PPP and PLM-N governments,” he added.
He said that reducing tariff for gas and electricity was not solution as such reduction would compel the present government to take more loans as done by the previous governments.
