Pakistan officially reopened its offshore exploration frontier on Wednesday after nearly 20 years, signing Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) and Exploration Licences (ELs) for multiple offshore blocks.
According to an official statement, Federal Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik attended the signing ceremony for offshore exploration blocks awarded through the latest bidding round.
The newly awarded blocks are situated in the Indus and Makran offshore basins near the coastal waters of Sindh and Balochistan. The Offshore Bid Round 2025 drew bids covering nearly 54,600 square kilometres, leading to the allocation of 23 offshore blocks.
Two of those blocks — Offshore Deep-C and Offshore Deep-F — had already been awarded in December 2025 to Mari Energies Limited, Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company and Fatima Petroleum Company Limited during a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Petroleum Division said the signing of the remaining 21 agreements has now completed the contractual process for the entire offshore bidding portfolio.
Addressing the ceremony, Malik said the agreements demonstrated growing investor confidence in Pakistan’s offshore potential, which spans more than 282,000 square kilometres yet has seen only 18 exploratory wells drilled since independence.
He stated that the successful conclusion of the bidding round reflected the government’s efforts to establish Pakistan as a competitive offshore investment destination through transparent and investor-friendly policies. These measures included the introduction of new Offshore Petroleum Rules and a revised Model Production Sharing Agreement to boost investor confidence and improve transparency.
Mari Energies Limited emerged as the leading participant in the offshore bidding round, securing interests in all 23 blocks, including 18 as operator and five as a joint venture partner.
Meanwhile, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited and Pakistan Petroleum Limited each obtained eight exploration blocks, including two blocks where they will serve as operators.
Prime Global Energies Limited was awarded one block as operator, while United Energy Pakistan Limited and Orient Petroleum Incorporation also joined the signing process alongside other partners.
The statement said the awarded offshore blocks represent an estimated investment of $82 million during the first phase of the initial three-year licence period. Total investment could rise to nearly $1 billion if exploration advances to the second phase involving drilling operations.
During Phase I, companies will conduct geological and geophysical studies, including seismic surveys, data processing, and interpretation to evaluate hydrocarbon prospects in offshore basins. If the findings prove promising, Phase II will involve exploratory drilling in selected offshore areas.
Officials said any commercial discovery of hydrocarbons could trigger further investments worth hundreds of millions of dollars for appraisal, field development, and production activities. Such developments are expected to create jobs, encourage technology transfer, and help reduce Pakistan’s energy import costs.
