Overview
- The government completed signing Production Sharing Agreements and Exploration Licences for 23 offshore blocks, finishing the Offshore Bid Round 2025 and formally reopening Pakistan’s offshore frontier on Wednesday.
- The awarded blocks lie in the Indus and Makran basins near Sindh and Balochistan and were selected from offers covering about 54,600 square kilometres of the country’s roughly 282,623 sq km offshore area.
- Phase I covers a three-year programme of seismic surveys, geological studies, data processing and interpretation with an estimated $82 million commitment, while Phase II exploratory drilling remains conditional on encouraging Phase I results and could raise total investment to about $1 billion.
- Mari Energies is the dominant participant, taking part in all 23 blocks (operating 18), with state firms OGDCL and PPL each holding interests in eight blocks and other partners including United Energy Pakistan and Orient Petroleum joining joint ventures.
- The bid package includes new Offshore Petroleum Rules and a Model Production Sharing Agreement to boost investor confidence, and companies pledged local social welfare and skills programmes that could create jobs, spur technology transfer and reduce energy import costs if commercial discoveries follow.