By an OGJ Online Correspondent
KARACHI, Oct. 1 -- Possible US military actions in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have depressed exploration and production activities in neighboring Pakistan.
Jamal Hassan, secretary of the Pakistan Petroleum Exploration & Production Companies Association, said parent companies of entities working in Pakistan have reduced foreign technical staff for safety reasons, affecting seismic surveys and drilling activity.
Hassan said BP PLC, Lasmo PLC, and Premier Oil PLC had kept most of their foreign staff in the country, but other companies had pulled out most of their expatriate staff.
Production from existing fields is uninterrupted, said Hassan.
BP PLC is continuing normal production of 205 MMcfd of gas and 30,000 b/d of oil from its fields in the Badin Blocks and on the Mehran Block in Sindh province. It also is continuing a seismic survey without interruption.
The other working interest owners in the Badin and Mehran blocks are the government of Pakistan, Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., and Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd.
BP Pakistan is the leading foreign operator in the country with an estimated 50% of the nation's oil and 10% of its gas production.