Offshore drilling for hydrocarbons near Karachi coast completes; samples sent for lab test

Offshore drilling for hydrocarbons near Karachi coast completes; samples sent for lab test

KARACHI: The offshore drilling near Karachi coast has been completed. The operators have found hydrocarbons and sent for laboratory test. The operators are hopeful of huge deposits of hydrocarbons, sources said on Wednesday.

Offshore drilling, through a joint venture of four oil giants, near Karachi coast on Indus G-Block (Kekra-1) has been completed after four months.

The process spudded the Kekra-1 well to the depth of 5,450 meters.

A joint venture of ExxonMobil, ENI, Oil and Gas Development Company, and Pakistan Petroleum Limited are conducting the drill stem test (DST) to determine the real size of the oil and gas reserves in the Kekra-1 well, located around 280 km away from Karachi.

The sources said that the samples had been sent for laboratory tests. On the positive results the country would have one of the huge deposits in the world.

Pakistan’s import bill could be decreased by billions of dollars annually, if the total reservoir quantity is huge.

The group of multinational companies had begun offshore drilling on 11th January 2019. The drilling was expected to be completed in March 2019 as per initial estimation. ENI ensured the completion of offshore drilling despite critical situations faced during the drilling process.