PM urges foreign firms to avail exploration opportunities amid improved security

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Thursday urged the foreign companies to exploit the vast exploration opportunities in Pakistan as the security situation of the country had changed altogether.

Addressing the two-day concluding ceremony of 2017 Annual Technical Conference here, he said the presence of 35 exhibitors and around 1,500 participants in the conference was a heartening opportunity for the experts as well as the industry to share their expertise with one another.

Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kemal also accompanied the prime minister.

The conference was organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and Pakistan Association of Petroleum Geo-scientists that was participated by exploration and production (E&P), service companies, regulatory authorities and academia.

The prime minister said after improvement of the law and order, various areas were now open for exploration which were unsafe in the past.

He observed that last four and half years proved to be historic for the energy sector of Pakistan as the country had replenished its reserves by successfully making around 100 discoveries.

However, he said a lot more yet to be done as the country would require more energy to achieve its growth targets.

He hoped that the conference would have helped the participants to point out the opportunities and challenges in the E&P sector of the country.

The prime minister said Pakistan was fast moving towards energy mix exploiting its potential in coal, wind and hydro sectors.

He said the government had been making extensive efforts to address the issue of country’s energy shortage.

He said Pakistan had become a growing energy market, consequent to the government’s attractive policies which had also been recognized by the world.

The prime minister hoped that foreign firms participating in the conference would avail the opportunities of partnership.

He said Pakistan looked forward for a greater efforts in E&P sector as more discoveries meant lesser import for the country.

He also visited the pavilions set up by the exhibitors to showcase their products as well as their achievements.

Earlier, in his keynote remarks, Chairman of the Conference Syed Wamiq Bukhari said the conference had become a historic event with record number of participants with 20 first time participants.

He said of all the participating firms, two-third companies were multinational.

Appreciating the government’s decision for import of LNG, the chairman said Pakistan needed to adopt all avenues for exploration.

He told the audience that almost 90 percent of country’s area was yet unexplored and called for further efforts to explore opportunities like in shale gas and other resources.