ISLAMABAD – The Austrian oil and gas giant OMV has informed the government about the completion of its deal to takeover the Malaysian state owned oil and gas company, Petronas’s exploration and production operations in Pakistan.
According to official sources, OMV General Manager Dr Elmar Colins furnished this information to the Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar during a meeting on Wednesday.
Pakistan has serious reservations over the exit of Petronas, as its public sector entities too are partners in its exploration and production activities in the country. The deal between the two companies was agreed in September last year, after which Petronas sought a no objection certificate from Pakistan for its exit. British Petroleum has also sold its assets in Pakistan due to massive losses sustained in the cleanup efforts undertaken after oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.
The exit of two major oil and gas companies from the country had increased the pressure on the government, which is trying to draw in foreign companies to expedite local oil and gas exploration and production to meet rising domestic demand. In order to prevent the exit of the Malaysian company, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani had already written a letter to his Malaysian counterpart seeking his intervention to stop the Muslim world’s only petroleum company exit from the country. Pakistan is still awaiting a reply from Malaysia before finalising its decision on the no objection certificate sought by Petronas to exit the country, sources said.
According to an official statement OMV GM called on the petroleum minister to brief him on the activities of the company in Pakistan. He expressed optimism on the development of unconventional sources of tight gas, once a properly laid down policy was in place.
The minister directed concerned officials to take appropriate steps to facilitate and streamline exploration and production with companies operating in the country to harness hydrocarbon resources and meet the energy shortage of the country.
OMV is Austria’s largest listed integrated oil and gas industrial company, which has been involved in exploration activities in Pakistan since 1990. OMV had made a gas discovery at the Miano gas field Sukkur followed by another significantly larger find at Sawan, Khairpur district. These two gas fields contribute significantly to Pakistan’s gas requirements.
