Azeem A Khan

The government has provided money totalling Rs 640.19 million to progress nine ongoing petroleum-related projects throughout the course of the current fiscal year's first seven months (Public Sector Development Programme, PSDP 2022-23) against a total budget of Rs 1.48 billion. According to official statistics available with WealthPK, around Rs 29.75 million out of the total distribution of Rs 899.62 million was spent on petroleum projects to speed up oil and gas exploration activities from July to January.

As per the PSDP document, the incumbent government has earmarked  Rs 150.560 million for the establishment of the National Mineral Data Centre, Directorate General of Minerals, Rs 303.700 million for expansion and up-gradation of Pakistan Petroleum Corehouse for its sustainable operations to facilitate oil and gas exploration research in Pakistan, Rs 100 million for Geological Mapping on 50 Toposheets out of 354 unmapped Toposheets of outcrop area of Balochistan province, Rs 70 million for Legal Consultancy Services for drafting of Model Mineral Agreement and updating of Regulatory Framework (Federal and Provincial Minerals/Coal Departments) and Rs 200 million for Pakistan National Research Programme on Geological Hazards (earthquakes and landslides) - Data Acquisition along Active Faults and Identification of Potential Landslides Hotspot Zones.

Similar to this, the government allocated Rs 224.809 million for the bolstering and upgrading of the Karachi Laboratories Complex at HDIP Operations Office, Karachi, Rs 100 million for the provision of 10 MMCFD gas/RLNG at the doorstep of the Bostan Special Economic Zone, Balochistan, Rs 74.705 million for the provision of 13 MMCFD gas/RLNG at the doorstep of the Bin Qasim Industrial Park Special Economic Zone, Faisalabad.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk