Provincial government taking vigorous steps for development, prosperity of merged districts
Peshawar
Economies around the world run on oil and gas and the history of our province shows that it is the largest oil and gas producing province. The merger of erstwhile FATA has opened new avenues for rapid investment in minerals, especially oil and gas.
There are billions of dollars’ worth of oil and gas in these areas and the current government is taking steps for the prosperity and development of the people of the province, especially the merged areas.
These views were expressed by Provincial Minister for Energy and Power Nazir Ahmed Abbasi while chairing a review and introductory meeting regarding the performance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL), a subsidiary of the Energy and Power Department.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Energy and Power Nisar Ahmed, senior officers of the department and Chief Executive KP Oil and Gas Company Nasir Khan also present.
Meanwhile, giving a briefing in the meeting, Additional Secretary Oil and Gas Noor Wali Khan said that work is currently underway on a total of 38 projects in the field of oil and gas production and exploration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, out of which oil and gas production is underway on 11 blocks, including Nashpa, Tal, Kohat, Baratai, Wali, Waziristan, Baska, Dhakani, Dhok Sultan and other areas, which generate billions of rupees annually from the production of natural reserves.
In addition, work is underway on 9 blocks for oil and gas exploration, including Nowshera, Wali West, Tirah, Orakzai, Gorglot, Pezo, etc., and other private companies, including the provincial government company KPOGCL, are working in them. Noor Wali further informed that earlier, KPOGCL had discovered oil and gas in the “Dhok Hussain” well of the Baratai block in partnership with OGDCL in 2018, in which oil and gas production began after the successful installation of production facilities. started in June 2020, while oil and gas production from the second well, “Siyab”, started in January 2022.
From which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government gets Rs 800 million annually in royalties and KPOGCL gets Rs 130 million annually. The provincial minister was also informed about the government reforms, including the institutional structure of the company, in the meeting.
In the meeting, the Provincial Minister for Energy and Power Nazir Ahmad Abbasi expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of the Energy Department and its subordinate institutions and hoped that by further promoting the natural resources of the province, the department would be made the highest revenue generating institution of the province in the coming days, which would be able to play a fundamental role in stabilizing the economy of the province, which would lead to further development in the industrial sector, including new employment opportunities in the province he concluded.
