Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), one of Pakistan’s largest energy and exploration companies, has rejected recent media reports claiming that the E&P is “reclaiming land from the sea to build an artificial island”, terming the media coverage “misleading” which does not fully reflect the technical scope and design of the project.
The clarification comes after it was reported that PPL is reclaiming land from the sea to create a launch pad, which will allow the company to accelerate oil and gas exploration.
As per the report, the artificial island will be located 300km (190 miles) off the coast of Sindh.
However, PPL on Thursday clarified that the “activities underway relate to enabling safe drilling operations in a challenging marshy environment, rather than the development of a standalone offshore island”.
“This is a technically complex and unique initiative, and is among the first projects in Pakistan to undertake drilling in such a marshy, tide-affected area,” said the company.
The listed company shared that the project is located in the southern marshy region of the Sirani Block, near district Sujawal, Sindh, which has previously remained unexplored due to significant operational and accessibility constraints.
“PPL has already successfully acquired 2D and 3D seismic data in this area using specialised transition-zone equipment,” read the notice, adding that construction activities are currently in progress.
The company shared that due to marshy subsoil conditions and tidal influence, both the access road and the well pad are being raised by approximately nine feet to ensure operational continuity and mitigate the effects of low and high tides.
“The well location is approximately 30 km from the mainland. A natural water channel of approximately 17 km between the loading and offloading jetties will be used to transport equipment and materials via barges.
“The well is planned to be spud in March 2026,” the company said.
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