By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government received 23 bids, mostly from state-run firms, for 40 offshore oil and gas exploration blocks offered in a licensing round after an 18-year hiatus, the petroleum ministry said on Friday, hailing the response as a sign of renewed investor confidence.
“Bids were received for 23 offshore blocks, covering a total area of approximately 53,510 square kilometres,” the Petroleum Division said in a statement. Among the successful bidders were Pakistan’s leading national companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL), Mari Energies Ltd (MEL) and Prime Energy Ltd (PML).
The ministry described the outcome as “encouraging, reflecting strong investor confidence in Pakistan’s upstream sector” and in line with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s vision for energy security and enhanced indigenisation.
A major intervention came from Turkey’s TPAO, the national oil company also known as Turkish Petroleum, which has taken a 25 percent stake in offshore block-C along with operatorship. Important international and private-sector partners, including United Energy, Orient Petroleum and Fatima Petroleum, also joined as joint venture partners, “underscoring growing international interest in Pakistan’s offshore potential”, the ministry said.
The Offshore Bid Round 2025 was launched in January to grant petroleum exploration licences for the 40 blocks spanning the Indus and Makran basins. Bids were publicly opened on Oct. 31 by a Bid Opening Committee chaired by the Director General Petroleum Concessions (DGPC), in the presence of representatives from the coastal provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
The companies have committed 4,427 work units for these 23 blocks during Phase 1 of the initial three-year licence period, representing an investment of approximately $80 million, the ministry said. Work programmes will focus on comprehensive geophysical and geological studies, including seismic data acquisition, processing and interpretation. In the event of exploratory drilling in Phase II, investments could reach $750 million to $1 billion, it added.
The strong offshore response contrasts with earlier this month, when the government received just one bid for 23 onshore exploration blocks, submitted by Mari Energies, a company jointly owned by Fauji Foundation, the government and its other entities. The petroleum ministry declined to disclose the number of bids from each company or for specific blocks.
The round was underpinned by a recent basin study by US firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M), which indicated significant yet-to-find hydrocarbon potential in Pakistan’s offshore basins. Before launching the process, the Petroleum Division developed a Model Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) integrated into the bid package to ensure transparency and competitiveness. It also promulgated Offshore Petroleum Rules to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework.
Past attempts by international majors such as Shell and ExxonMobil to explore Pakistan’s offshore blocks were unsuccessful, including a consortium led by ExxonMobil about five years ago, despite promising hydrocarbon data. The government said its strategy to target both the Indus and Makran basins simultaneously had paid off. After completion of geophysical work and drilling planning, the ministry will invite global oil majors to join the next phase, with several already in contact and evaluating data
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