PPL to acquire stake in Jati Block

KUWAIT, September 11, 2012: Director General Petroleum Concessions, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources Qazi Saleem Siddiqui and Chairman and Managing Director, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) Nizar M. Al-Adsani signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Letter of Intent (LoI) for Jati Block in Sindh on a strategic partnership basis at the headquarters of KUFPEC, a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC), in Kuwait on September 11. The MoU-LoI will be followed subsequently by a Petroleum Concession Agreement.

Also present on the occasion were Ambassador of Pakistan to Kuwait H.E. Iftekhar Aziz, MD and CEO, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) Asim Murtaza Khan, Regional Manager, Middle East, KUFPEC Syed Wamiq Bokhari, Pakistan Country Representative, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Talat Jabeen and MD, Pakistan State Oil Naeem Yahya Mir.

According to the MoU-LoI, KUFPEC will be the operator of Jati Block with PPL as a joint venture (JV) partner as a local state-owned company in line with the provision of Petroleum Policy 2009. PPL is already partnering with KUFPEC in Sukhpur Block and Qadirpur Gas Field.

The acquisition of working interest in Jati Block by PPL will result in operational synergy as it is located close to the company-operated Sirani Block, which has a similar geological setting and where exploration activities in a relatively advanced stage with 3D seismic already underway. The block, which is slated to host both conventional and unconventional reserves, will also benefit from PPL’s technical know-how and lead in the exploitation of unconventional reservoirs of tight and shale gas.

A day earlier, the Pakistani delegation toured Kuwait Oil Company’s Burgan Field which was discovered in 1938. After signing the MoU-LoI, the team also visited KPC’s headquarters and held discussions with Chairman and CEO KPC Farouq Al-Zanki on matters of mutual business interest.