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Namibia Offshore Exploration and Lessons for Pakistan
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Namibia Offshore Exploration and Lessons for Pakistan

Author saifenergy

Namibia Offshore Exploration and Lessons for Pakistan

Namibia’s offshore exploration history offers a remarkable case study for nations like Pakistan aiming to unlock their hydrocarbon potential. Both countries have faced challenges in establishing offshore oil and gas production despite promising geological settings. By examining Namibia’s approach and outcomes, Pakistan can identify actionable strategies to rejuvenate its offshore exploration efforts.

Namibia’s Offshore Exploration Journey: Key Phases and Insights

  1. Early Licensing Rounds (1969–1979)

Namibia initiated its offshore exploration in 1969, awarding eight blocks during the first licensing round. The Kudu Gas discovery (Kudu 9A-1) by Chevron, Regent, and SOEKOR marked the first gas find in the Orange Basin. However, UN sanctions in the late 1970s halted international participation, with rights transferred to the nascent national oil company, SWAKOR.

2. Renewed Exploration Efforts (1987–1990)

With collaboration from Halliburton, SWAKOR conducted seismic surveys and drilled additional wells (Kudu 9A-2 and 9A-3). Despite limited success, the groundwork was laid for modern exploration techniques and resource assessment.

  1. Post-Independence Licensing Rounds (1990s)
  • Namibia launched a series of licensing rounds from 1991 to 1999, awarding blocks to international players like Shell, Chevron, and Sasol.
  • Exploration activity surged with over 88,000 km of 2D seismic data collected and multiple exploratory wells drilled. While discoveries were elusive, critical insights into basin geology were gained.
  1. Open Licensing System and Modern Discoveries (1999–Present)

The adoption of an open licensing system in 1999 attracted numerous global operators, including Shell and TotalEnergies. Key outcomes included:

  • Enhanced seismic data acquisition with advanced 2D and 3D surveys.
  • Significant light oil discoveries in 2021/2022 by Shell Namibia (Graff-1) and TotalEnergies (Venus-1X.T1) in the Orange Basin.

 

Namibia Offshore Exploration and Lessons for Pakistan

Figure courtesy to NVENTURES.

Pakistan’s Offshore Exploration: Challenges and History

  1. Early Attempts (1960s–1980s)

Pakistan’s offshore exploration began in 1963, with Sun Oil drilling three wells in the Indus Delta. Subsequent efforts in the 1970s and 1980s by Wintershall, Marathon, and OGDCL revealed limited success. Key findings included gas shows in the Miocene and shaly source rocks beneath the Deccan volcanics.

  1. Exploration Stagnation (1990s–2010s)

Despite the discovery of gas at Pakcan-1, efforts by international operators such as Total Energies, Oxy, and PPL yielded no major breakthroughs. The most recent well, Kekra-1 (2019), drilled by ENI, failed to confirm commercially viable resources.

  1. Current State

Pakistan’s offshore remains underexplored, with technical challenges, governance issues, and a lack of consistent policy direction deterring investment.

Namibia Offshore Exploration and Lessons for Pakistan

Lessons from Namibia for Pakistan

  1. Persistence and Long-Term Vision
    Namibia’s success came after decades of effort and numerous dry wells. Pakistan must adopt a similar mindset, understanding that significant discoveries often require persistence over time.
  2. Investor-Friendly Policies
    Namibia’s transparent regulations and open licensing system encouraged international participation. Pakistan must revise its offshore policies to offer competitive fiscal terms, ensuring clarity and fairness for foreign investors.
  3. Data-Driven Exploration
    Namibia invested heavily in seismic data acquisition and geological modeling, reducing exploration risk. Pakistan should prioritize similar initiatives, including basin analog modeling and leveraging advanced seismic technologies.
  4. Strategic Partnerships
    Collaboration with supermajors like Shell and TotalEnergies brought cutting-edge technology and expertise to Namibia. Pakistan should foster partnerships with global leaders in offshore exploration.
  5. Political and Economic Stability
    A stable environment is crucial for attracting and retaining investors. Pakistan must focus on creating a favorable business climate, addressing governance issues, and ensuring policy continuity.
  6. Technology and Innovation
    Namibia’s adoption of advanced 2D and 3D seismic methods proved pivotal. Pakistan should invest in modern exploration technologies to improve success rates.

Conclusion: A Path Forward for Pakistan

 Namibia’s offshore journey illustrates the power of resilience, innovation, and collaboration in unlocking hydrocarbon potential. By drawing inspiration from Namibia’s approach, Pakistan can chart a path toward energy security.

Key steps include fostering an investor-friendly ecosystem, prioritizing data acquisition, and engaging with international experts. With sustained efforts and strategic planning, Pakistan’s offshore potential can transform into a vital resource for the nation’s energy needs.

Pakistan's Oil & Gas Investment and Regulations
Categories Blog, exploration

Pakistan’s Oil & Gas Investment and Regulations

Author saifenergy

The oil and gas industry in Pakistan offers a promising environment for energy companies. Pakistan has set up strategic areas, rules, and benefits for companies that explore and produce oil and gas (E&P). These policies are designed to make things easier and to bring in more foreign money. Let’s look at the different areas, how companies get permission to work there, and the good deals available in Pakistan’s oil and gas industry.

Zoning for Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration

Pakistan has divided its onshore and offshore areas into different categories based on the geological risks and the amount of investment needed:

  1. Onshore Zones:
    • ZONE-I and ZONE-I(F): High-risk, high-cost areas with significant geological challenges.
    • ZONE-II: Moderate risk with high to medium cost requirements.
    • ZONE-III: Low risk and low cost, making it more accessible for E&P activities.
  2. Offshore Zones:
    • Shallow (up to 200m): Easier to access with lower risks.
    • Deep (200-1000 m): Moderate accessibility and higher technical challenges.
    • Ultra Deep (Beyond 1000m): High-risk, high-investment areas with potentially large rewards.

This organized zoning helps companies assess the balance between risk and reward in each area, guiding their strategies according to geological and financial considerations.

Concession Award Process for E&P Rights

Pakistan’s upstream sector provides three procedures for granting E&P rights:

  1. Competitive Bidding:

Petroleum Exploration Licences are given for both land and sea areas. Companies try to win these by using Work Units, a new idea that lets them change their plans to get the best results.

  1. Government-to-Government Agreements:

Companies that work closely with the government can get the right to explore new areas without having to compete with others. This helps build strong relationships between the government and these companies, and it also benefits both sides.

  1. Reconnaissance Permits:

For businesses that conduct research and surveys, non-exclusive licenses can be acquired through direct talks, allowing them to gather data from multiple sources.

Invitation to Bid: Transparency in the Bidding Process

To guarantee a fair and clear process, the Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions (DGPC) publishes public invitations for companies to submit their bids. These bids are open for at least 60 days, giving enough time for interested companies to join. The process favors companies that offer the most Work Units. If several companies offer the same amount, they can submit new bids to make the competition more equal.

Agreement Execution for E&P Activities

The DGPC helps make it easy and fast to sign Petroleum Concession Agreements (PCA) or Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) using standard templates. This organized process reduces paperwork and delays, so companies can start their exploration work as soon as possible.

Gas Market Access and Infrastructure

E&P companies have permission to build and run pipelines for both local use and exporting. The gas market works with an open-access system, where companies with solid plans get priority. The building of pipelines follows the government’s energy plan, and the prices are controlled by the right groups, making sure companies make money while also looking out for the public’s needs.

Investment Incentives: A Favorable Onshore Package

Pakistan’s onshore oil and gas exploration package has several benefits to encourage foreign investment:

• Royalties: A standard 12.5% royalty on the value of petroleum produced is applied. This gives the government a fair share while keeping costs reasonable for companies.

• Corporate Income Tax: The tax on profits is capped at 40%, and royalty payments can be deducted as expenses. This makes Pakistan a good choice for large oil and gas companies.

• Local Partnership Requirement: Foreign companies must partner with local firms, like GHPL. This helps local businesses grow and allows international expertise to enter the market.

• Production Bonuses and Work Units: Companies get bonuses based on how much they produce, and Work Units allow for flexible work requirements. This helps companies adjust their plans based on the actual conditions they find.

Import Duties and Taxes

The rules for taxes provide significant benefits for companies doing oil and gas work:

  • Imported equipment that isn’t made locally has a 5% import tax, while locally made items have a 10% tax, and wellhead equipment has a 15% tax.
  • Companies that provide technical services to oil and gas firms don’t have to pay import duties, sales tax, or license fees, which lowers their costs.

Social Welfare and Training Contributions

Acknowledging the significance of community well-being, the rules require oil and gas companies to make social and training payments:

  • Training Payments: These companies pay yearly, with $25,000 during the search for oil and gas and $50,000 during the building phase.
  • Social Welfare Payments: Depending on how much oil and gas they produce, companies fund local welfare projects, helping communities in areas where they search for and produce oil and gas.

Key Takeaways

Pakistan’s oil and gas industry is set up to bring in investments while considering economic, environmental, and social needs. By using a system of zones and competitive offers, along with government help and benefits, the country makes it easier and more profitable for companies to find and produce oil and gas.

For more details, refer to the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Policy 2012.

Overview of Offshore Exploration in Pakistan
Categories Blog, exploration

Overview of Offshore Exploration in Pakistan

Author saifenergy

Offshore exploration in Pakistan began in 1963, with Sun drilling three wells in the Indus Delta’s shallow waters: Dhabo Creek-01, Patiani Creek-01, and Korangi Creek-01. Subsequent attempts included Wintershall’s Indus Marine A-1 and B-1 wells in 1972, and Indus Marine C-1 in 1975. In 1976, Marathon drilled the Jal Pari 1A well, which encountered high pressure and forced a halt in drilling. Later, Husky Energy’s 1978 Karachi South-1 well revealed shaly source rocks in the Mughalkot Formation beneath the Deccan volcanic series, though the reservoir quality was poor. In 1985, OGDCL’s Pakcan-1 discovered gas in the Miocene; however, further efforts, such as Oxy’s 1989 Sadaf-1, yielded no significant results. The 1990s and 2000s saw additional wells by Canterbury, OPC, PPL, and Total Energies, including Pasni-1 and Gwadar-1, yet these too were largely unproductive. The most recent exploration, Kekra-1 by ENI in 2019, also yielded no viable resources. This outcome is likely due to a lack of hydrocarbon charge, attributed to the absence of Early Cretaceous source rocks in the area. No shallow source rocks could be established, despite some occurrences of thermogenic gas.

Overview of Offshore Exploration in Pakistan

Geological Influence of Plate Collision

The collision between the Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate created the Himalayas and initiated significant erosion, transporting sediments southward to form the Indus Fan in the Arabian Sea, one of the world’s largest sedimentary fans. The uplift accelerated erosion, feeding massive sediment into the Arabian Sea and building the Indus Fan. Following the continental collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates in the Oligocene, the influx of clastic sediments buried Paleogene carbonates in the offshore Indus Basin. This process intensified from the mid-Miocene onward, with uplifting and tilting of turbidites east of Murray Ridge. The Upper Oligocene to Recent Indus Fan clastics now form a thick succession of channel-levee systems.

Hydrocarbon Potential and Challenges

Data from offshore wells has yet to show evidence of significant Tertiary-age source rocks, and deeper sections remain largely unassessed. The thick Eocene to Pliocene deposits in the Indus Fan have shifted initial oil-rich zones into the gas window, creating migration barriers due to impermeable basal shale layers. Future drilling could reveal if hydrocarbons bypass these barriers through fault systems intersecting source rock. Findings from deepwater wells, such as Pak G2-1, indicate immature rocks for hydrocarbon generation. If the drilled sections are extrapolated to Paleocene Ranikot Formation, Ro levels around 0.4-0.5% suggesting early maturation for oil generation but lack of data and unconformity between Upper Miocene and Upper Eocene make the accurate predictions of thermal maturity very hard as all readings of present maturity are above unconformity. That’s why the Paleocene hydrocarbon potential might be overstated given limited data, as regional modeling suggests Paleocene source rocks may have become post-mature by the Oligocene, potentially charging Miocene and younger reservoirs via shallower source rocks would have occurred.

In contrast, wells like Karachi South A-1 and Pakcan-1 (Paleocene-Eocene to Mid-Miocene intervals) remain within the hydrocarbon window. Although Pakcan-1 confirms thermogenic gas, data limitations impede a complete source rock assessment across the basin. Ghazij Formation modeling based on Karachi South A-1 suggests it reaches the peak oil window (Figure-01) and about to approach the gas window.

Exploration Outlook and Economic Incentives

In the Lower Indus Basin, the Lower Cretaceous Sembar and Goru formations serve as primary source intervals; however, their offshore extension places them beneath Deccan volcanic rocks, rendering them less viable for the Indus Fan play. Offshore, rapid sedimentation has lowered geothermal gradients, reducing the likelihood of source rock maturation to depths comparable to onshore zones.

Seismic interpretation reveals laminated Deccan basalts within Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene marine-facies strata in the southeastern basin, adjacent to the Somanath Ridge and Saurashtra High (Khurram et al., 2019). Conversely, the northwestern basin, with minimal basalt influence and proximity to the Murray Ridge strike-slip fault zone, may offer potential for oil and gas exploration. With developed fault structures near Murray Ridge, the northwestern region is promising, presenting opportunities to uncover established Cretaceous plays.

To reduce import dependency, the government has introduced favorable terms, including a gas price of US$7-9/MMBtu and contractor profit shares up to 95%, aiming to attract foreign investment. While exploration results have been limited, recent multi-year surveys suggest offshore Pakistan still holds potential.

Offshore Exploration in Pakistan

Reference

Calves G, Schwab AM, Huuse M, Peter DC, Asif I.  2010.  Thermal regime of the northwest Indian rifted margin Comparison with Predictions. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 27, 1133–1147.  doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.02.010.

Chatterjee S, Goswami A, Scotese. 2013. The longest voyage: Tectonic, magmatic, and paleoclimatic evolution of the Indian plate during its northward flight from Gondwana to Asia. Gondwana Research, 23, 238–267. doi: 10.1016/j.gr.2012.07.001.

Jian-ming Gonga, b, c, Jing Liaoa, b, *, Jie Lianga, b, Bao-hua Leia, b, Jian-wen Chena, b, Muhammad Khalid, Syed Waseem Haidere, Ming Meng. Exploration prospects of oil and gas in the Northwestern part of the Offshore Indus Basin, Pakistan

Shahzad K, Betzler C, Ahmed N, Qayyum F, Spezzaferri S, Qadir A. 2018. Growth and demise of a Paleogene isolated carbonate platform of the Offshore Indus Basin, Pakistan: Effects of regional and local controlling factors. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 107, 481–504. doi: 10.1007/s00531-017-1504-7.

Key Concepts of Petroleum Migration by Zhiyong He, ZetaWare, Inc.
Categories Blog, exploration

Key Concepts of Petroleum Migration by Zhiyong He, ZetaWare, Inc.

Author saifenergy

Capillary Seals and Migration

Capillary seals are the primary mechanism controlling the movement of hydrocarbons within a sedimentary basin. These seals form barriers within the porous rock layers, preventing the vertical migration of oil and gas. Instead of moving upward toward the surface, hydrocarbons are often forced to migrate laterally along the stratigraphic layers of the basin.

Capillary seals arise due to differences in the rock properties, particularly pore throat sizes. Rocks with smaller pores (like mudstones or shales) generate higher capillary pressures that trap hydrocarbons beneath them. Vertical migration can only occur if the pressure from the buoyancy of oil and gas is strong enough to overcome this capillary force. As a result, lateral migration becomes the more common pathway for hydrocarbons, with the accumulation of oil and gas occurring in traps when they encounter geological structures like folds, faults, and salt domes.

Migration Rate

Hydrocarbon migration is a slow and gradual process, often taking years or even decades for hydrocarbons to move across pore spaces in a reservoir rock. The migration rate is influenced by a combination of capillary pressure, buoyancy, and the properties of the fluids involved, such as the mixture of oil and gas.

Capillary pressure refers to the resistance that hydrocarbons face when moving through small pore spaces in the rock. This resistance increases with smaller pore sizes, requiring higher buoyancy forces to drive the fluids. The rate of migration is also determined by the generation rate of hydrocarbons from the source rock. If the production of oil and gas is slow, migration will occur at a similarly slow pace, with hydrocarbons moving as they are generated.

Long-Distance Migration

In some basins, hydrocarbons can migrate over long distances, often traveling hundreds of kilometers before accumulating in traps. This long-distance migration is typical in low-relief basins, such as forland or continental basins, where geological structures do not impede lateral movement.

The ability of hydrocarbons to migrate over such distances is largely driven by the volume of hydrocarbons generated by the source rock. Rich source rocks that produce significant quantities of oil and gas push these fluids across the basin, allowing them to travel far before encountering a trap. The absence of substantial structural barriers also facilitates extended lateral migration, with hydrocarbons only accumulating when they encounter faults, pinch-outs, or other obstacles.

Capillary Pressure and Traps

Vertical vs. Lateral Migration

Vertical migration is typically more difficult due to the strong capillary pressures associated with impermeable or low-permeability rock layers. These barriers prevent hydrocarbons from moving upward unless the buoyancy forces can overcome the capillary resistance, which often requires a significant column of oil or gas. As a result, vertical migration is less common, and hydrocarbons are more likely to migrate laterally.

Lateral migration is easier because it encounters fewer barriers. Within a stratigraphic layer, such as a sandstone or carbonate, capillary pressures are often lower, making it easier for hydrocarbons to move sideways. This lateral migration continues until hydrocarbons encounter a trap that forces them to accumulate, such as a fault, a pinch-out, or a structural dome.

Capillary pressure and rock types: Different rock types exhibit varying levels of capillary pressure due to differences in pore throat sizes:

Shales or mudstones have small pore throats, creating high capillary pressures and acting as effective seals.

Sands or carbonates typically have larger pore throats, making them more permeable and allowing easier fluid movement.

This variation in capillary pressure influences the arrangement of oil and gas. Gas, being more buoyant, is often found above oil, but capillary pressure differences in the rock can cause hydrocarbons to accumulate in different ways, either vertically or laterally.

Capillary Pressure’s Role in Trap Formation

Capillary pressure is crucial in forming traps where hydrocarbons accumulate. When oil and gas migrate, they accumulate in areas where there is a significant difference in capillary pressure between rock layers. If the capillary pressure in a seal is high, hydrocarbons accumulate below it until the buoyancy pressure exceeds the capillary resistance, leading to the formation of reservoirs.

Traps such as faults, folds, and salt domes are critical for halting lateral migration and forcing hydrocarbons to accumulate. High-capacity traps with strong seals can hold large volumes of hydrocarbons, while weaker traps may only retain smaller quantities. This explains why some fields are larger and more productive than others.

What is happening in the area you’re working, please share your views!!!

Reference

Concepts and explanations regarding capillary seals, migration rates, and long-distance migration have been drawn from the presentation by Dr. Zong on “Capillary Seals and Petroleum Migration”.

Diagrams are also taken from this AAPG paper, “Migration and Charge Risk for Stratigraphic Traps “

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