The government on Monday signed one exploration license and petroleum concession agreement with Tallahassee Resources Inc to explore Karak north block located in District Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.
Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired the signing ceremony. The agreement was signed by Abid Saeed, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources, Saeedullah Shah, Director General Petroleum Concessions, Wasim Ahmad of Tallahassee and Director from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.
The federal minister speaking on the occasion said that the total area of aforesaid block was 99.14 sq km and minimum firm work commitment is US $ 3.07 million.
Apart from minimum work commitment, the company is obligated to spend a minimum of US $ 30,000/year in the block on social welfare schemes. He also directed the director general petroleum concessions to facilitate E&P companies to expedite the exploration process to boost the oil and gas production.
The ministry, after taking all provinces on board in finalising Model Petroleum Concession Agreement (MPCA) and Model Exploration Licence (MPCA), awarded 50 blocks on provisional basis to nine E&P companies on January 1, 2014.
Out of which 21 blocks are falling in Balochistan, 15 in Punjab, 6 in Sindh and 7 blocks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 1 in FATA. The ministry has already signed (43) ELs and PCAs this year.
The government executed one more Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCA) and Exploration Licence (EL) over Block No 3370-15 (Karak North) with Tallahassee Resources Inc (Tallahassee). M/s Tallahassee is an E&P company based out of Calgary, Canada, established since 2007.
It has its core assets with stake in 100 plus producing wells in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. According to company, they are primarily focused on conventional and Montney shale gas play in British Columbia and conventional light oil and Duverney shale play development in Alberta.