The Minister in a statement issued for press said ExxonMobil had purchased a block of Pakistan’s deep sea drilling rights off the Indus Delta for exploration.

“Their drilling is yet to start as depths are very intense but they are very hopeful of success in discovering a big cache of oil,” he said in a statement issued to press.

He added, “While the situation is not only good news and hopefully rewarding to Pakistan, anything further should not be added and may not be construed by my talk at FPCCI etc.”

A national daily in its August 4th publication had quoted Abdullah Haroon during his address at Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) as saying that ExxonMobil was close to hitting huge oil reserves near the Pak-Iran border, which could be even bigger than the Kuwaiti reserves.