Pakistan, Turkiye sign offshore bidding pact for joint oil and gas exploration
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkiye this week signed a joint agreement to participate in an offshore oil and gas exploration bid round in Pakistan, the press information department said in a statement.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2025 by Pakistani Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik and Turkiye's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar.
Under the agreement, leading Pakistani exploration and production (E&P) companies — Mari Energies Limited, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) — will partner with Turkish state-owned enterprise Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) to jointly bid for offshore blocks.
'This bid round is a significant opportunity for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's upstream energy sector,' the press information department statement said.
'We believe that this strategic collaboration [with Turkiye] will bring much-needed FDI to Pakistan and pave the way for the sharing and deployment of international technologies, expertise, and skillsets to explore and exploit the untapped potential of Pakistan's offshore region.'
Pakistan's offshore consists of two distinct geological basins, Makran and Indus, which together cover an area greater than 282,623 sq km.
In a major policy shift aimed at revitalizing Pakistan's energy sector, the government in February announced the auction of 71 oil and gas exploration blocks, 40 offshore and 31 onshore, while also unveiling plans to deregulate fuel prices. These measures are expected to enhance domestic energy production, attract foreign investment, and introduce competitive pricing in the petroleum market.
Then Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik made the announcement at the Annual Oil and Gas Conference in Islamabad in February, highlighting the urgent need to expand exploration efforts. He said Pakistan had drilled only 18 offshore wells in the past 60 years, far behind regional peers such as India and Bangladesh, which have made significant discoveries in offshore fields.
To bridge this gap, the government was now offering 40 offshore blocks for bidding, providing investors with an opportunity to tap into the country's largely unexplored maritime energy reserves. Additionally, 31 onshore blocks had been made available to expand domestic oil and gas production.
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