Plant, field installations remain safe, says Pakistan Oilfields after militant attack

Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), an operator of TAL block, said on Wednesday that all the plant and field installations of MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company located in Hangu district have remained safe and production of hydrocarbons is normal after militants attacked the energy facility on Tuesday.

“As per information received from MOL, the operator of TAL Block, on May 23, 2023, an armed attack at Manzalai-08 and Manzalai-10 well sites was reported late hours of May 22, 2023 wherein six (06) personnel embraced martyrdom after putting up a brave fight,” read the notice sent to to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) by POL, which has a pre-commerciality working interest of 25%.

The notice read that both the wells were shut from the central control room to avert any damage from the firing causing production curtailment of approximately 4 million meter standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and 24 barrels per day (bpd) of oil.

“All the plants and fields installations remained safe and production of hydrocarbons from the rest of the well is normal,” it added.

On Tuesday, militants stormed a natural gas and oil extraction plant run by the MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

As per Reuters, the militants targeted two wells - M-8 and M-10 - with heavy weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, said the police.

“The security guards at M-8 repulsed the terrorists’ attack but the casualties took place at M-10,” said Irfan Khan, a police official.

He added that the militants also damaged a solar power plant at the gas power plant before fleeing to adjoining North Waziristan, where they had come from.

The oil and gas facility is run by MOL Pakistan. It employees around 400 people and is a fully owned subsidiary of Hungary-based MOL Group, according to the company’s website.

The MOL Group confirmed the death toll but said none of its employees were killed.