Author: Admin

KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has made a significant breakthrough at its LAL X-1 exploratory well in Kashmore, Sindh, marking the company’s entry into Pakistan’s unconventional gas sector. Although the initial gas flow of 0.138 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) is modest, industry experts describe the discovery as a major technical achievement. For the first time, hydrocarbons have been successfully produced from the Lower Alabaster Formation, a geological layer previously considered difficult to exploit. The well, drilled to a depth of 1,408 metres after spudding on June 30,…

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BEIJING: Pakistan is intensifying efforts to attract export-oriented investments, having mobilised $11 billion through memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and joint ventures with Chinese partners over the past two years, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi said on Monday. The ambassador held individual meetings and a collective working luncheon with Pakistan’s honorary investment counsellors in China to strengthen coordination and set priorities for the year ahead. Participants included Ma Xiaoli, representing Yuan Jianming, along with Zhang Baozhong, Wang Zihai and Jian Peng. Hashmi appreciated the counsellors’ contributions across key regions, including…

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ISLAMABAD: The Arif Habib consortium on Tuesday emerged as the successful bidder for Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Ltd (PIACL) after offering Rs135 billion in a competitive open auction, marking Pakistan’s first major privatisation in nearly two decades. The bidding process began with three pre-qualified bidders — Lucky Cement, Airblue and the Arif Habib consortium. Airblue exited after the first round, submitting a bid of Rs26.5bn, below the government’s reference price of Rs100bn. In the initial round, Lucky Cement bid Rs101.5bn, while Arif Habib led with Rs115bn. Following a short break,…

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The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has announced its first-ever local currency investment in Pakistan, aimed at strengthening the country’s agriculture sector and food security. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the IFC said it would provide an unfunded partial credit guarantee of up to Rs33.6 billion to support long-term Pakistani rupee financing from Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Limited to Engro Fertilisers Limited. The initiative marks IFC’s maiden rupee-denominated investment in the country and is designed to expand access to long-term local…

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