Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA (PGNIG) has opened its first natural gas production facility in Pakistan. The new facility will provide the basis for further work to fully develop the Rehman and Rizq fields, which will result in an eightfold increase in gas production from the Kirthar licence area.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr Piotr Opaliński, Poland’s ambassador to Pakistan, Mr Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, Federal Oil and Gas Minister, as well as representatives of the Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions (DGPC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and PGNiG SA.

In 2015, PGNiG’s Rizq-1 well discovered an unconventional gas accumulation comprising 4.5 billion cubic metres of tight gas. The Company is planning to start gas production in late December 2015. As part of its field development work, in 2015 the Company also completed the construction of surface installations which, once additional wells have been drilled, will enable the Company to increase its current gas output fourfold, to about 800 cubic metres per minute. The value of the project was USD 13m.

“We hope this new discovery will allow us to considerably increase our gas production volumes. Thus far, our revenue from gas sales in Pakistan has been USD 25m net of tax,” said Zbigniew Skrzypkiewicz, PGNiG SA Vice-President, Exploration and Production.

At the same time, we have been planning new exploration work that PGNiG hopes will lead to discovering at least one more gas deposit. Its successful exploration has encouraged PGNiG to look for other licence areas in the Pakistani market.

PGNiG SA has been present in Pakistan since 2005. It has conducted operations under the Kirthar licence, where it holds a 70% interest. The remaining 30% is held by PPL. So far, three exploration wells have been drilled in the Kirthar licence area, leading to the discovery of two fields: Rehman in 2009 and Rizq in 2015.

Pilot production from the Rehman field has been carried out since June 2013 using temporary facilities, with the gas output sold to the Pakistani gas network.

About PGNIG

The PGNiG Group is the leader of the Polish natural gas market, as well as the only vertically integrated gas company in Poland. Its parent undertaking is Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo. Formation of the Group's enabled coordination of the upstream and downstream operations - from exploration and production to storage to trade and distribution of gaseous fuels. The roots of the companies forming PGNiG date back to 19th century - to the beginnings of Polish and world oil industry. The company has been operating under the name PGNiG since 1982. In 1996, the state-owned company PGNiG was transformed into a joint stock company.