ISLAMABAD: The government has collected around Rs 142.977 billion royalty from Exploration and Production (E&P) companies operating in different oil and gas producing districts across the country, during a period of 21-months.

“From August 18, 2019 to May 5, 2020, an amount of Rs142.977 billion has been collected from different E&P companies, out of which Rs 51.196 billion were received on account of crude oil and Rs 91.781 billion for natural gas extraction,” according to a latest official document available with APP.

During the last two years, the E&P companies have added 9,444 BPD (Barrels per Day) oil and 218 MMCFD (Million Cubic Feet per Day) gas in the national pool against the depletion of 9611 BPD oil and 279 MMCFD gas from the operational wells.

While, the companies had acquired around 5,110 2D Line-Kilometer and 2,693 Square-Kilometer seismic data to assess potential of hydrocarbon deposits in different pockets, besides making 26 oil and gas discoveries in various exploratory blocks.

During the period, the government granted 10 licences and extended 124, granted 15 leases and extended 48, drilled 142 wells including 50 exploratory and 92 appraisal/development, approved 404 well notices, commenced 140 wells and the number of miscellaneous wells stood at 264.

Pakistan has large sedimentary area of 827,268 in which only 1,123 exploratory and 1,496 appraisal/development wells have been drilled so far with an average well drilling density of 3.0 wells per 1,000 square kilometers.

These wells have resulted in 411 discoveries giving a success ratio of 1:2.8. About 95 percent of these wells are concentrated in Indus Basin whereas Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and offshore area is virtually unexplored.