Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar. Photo: Courtesy — Wikipedia
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and Turkiye on Tuesday signed gas and mining deals, which would attract investments of over $300 million to boost mainly offshore drilling activities.
Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, who was on a visit to Pakistan, said Turkiye was planning to kick off additional ventures in partnership with Pakistan, particularly in oil and gas exploration, energy infrastructure and the mining sector.
“To achieve our shared goal of $5 billion in bilateral trade, significant contributions will come from deeper collaboration in energy and mining,” Bayraktar remarked during a meeting with Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif witnessed the exchange of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and agreements, including the deed of assignment for Eastern Offshore Indus-C, petroleum concession for Ziarat North Block, petroleum concession for Sukhpur-II Block and petroleum concession for Offshore Deep-C Block and Offshore Deep-F Block. Ali Pervaiz Malik welcomed the deals, saying they would bring more investment to the energy sector and boost bilateral relations. He said that PM Sharif considers President Recep Tayyip Erdogan his brother and “this spirit of friendship guides Pakistan’s commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation across strategic sectors”.
During the meeting, managing directors of Mari Energies, Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) gave presentations on their ongoing and planned projects. They highlighted the promising opportunities for collaboration with Turkish counterparts in oil and gas exploration and mining. OGDC MD spoke about diversification into the Reko Diq copper and gold project, Pakistan’s first shale gas pilot project and ongoing activities for the exploitation of tight gas. He invited Turkish investors to join OGDC’s unconventional hydrocarbon programme as joint-venture and technology partners.
Alparslan Bayraktar and Ali Pervaiz Malik decided that an office of Turkish Petroleum would be opened in Islamabad in December, where 10 Turkish nationals would be working along with local staff. They agreed to explore the concept of adopting a unified approach by incorporating a joint trading company for the procurement of petroleum to meet their respective energy requirements.
Among the agreements inked was an assignment agreement for the transfer of 25% working interest along with operatorship of Indus Offshore Block-C from PPL to Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC), with Mari Energies and OGDC as joint-venture partners. Also, an exploration licence was granted to Mari Energies (operator), TPOC and Fatima Petroleum for the Offshore Deep-F Block, and another exploration licence was given to Mari Energies (operator), TPOC and Fatima Petroleum for the Offshore Deep-C Block.
For Sukhpur-II Block, the government granted an onshore exploration licence to Prime Pakistan (operator), OGDC, Mari Energies and TPOC, while for Ziarat North Block, an onshore exploration licence was provided to Mari Energies (operator), OGDC, PPL, TPOC and Government Holdings Private Limited (GHPL).
Investors eye power companies
Pakistan is also looking forward to the participation of experienced and reputable international private-sector investors in bidding for the privatisation of power distribution companies (DISCOs). In this regard, the interest of Turkish firms, with their vast experience, is considered very important.
Federal Minister for Power Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari stated this during a meeting with the Turkish energy minister. He praised the government of Turkiye for providing an opportunity for Pakistan’s power-sector experts to study Turkiye’s energy sector, which was largely driven by the private sector. He announced that Pakistan would soon offer three DISCOs for privatisation.
