TPAO partners with Pakistani companies for offshore oil and gas exploration
Türkiye’s state-owned Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) has partnered with three Pakistani national energy companies to bid in Pakistan’s offshore oil and gas exploration tender.
This collaboration marks a strategic energy move for both nations.
The agreement was signed during an official visit to Islamabad by Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, who attended the Pakistan Mining Investment Forum.
Minister Bayraktar highlighted the importance of value-added mining and environmentally sensitive practices to attract investment.
He noted that Türkiye is working on a reform package to facilitate mining investments by streamlining permit processes.
The joint bidding agreement involves Turkish Petroleum and Pakistan’s national oil companies Mari Energies, OGDCL and PPL.
Pakistan plans to bid for 40 sea exploration blocks by 30 June 2025, with 14 in the Makran offshore basin and 26 in the Indus offshore basin. The four companies will jointly bid for selected blocks.
“This step will deepen the strategic energy partnership between Türkiye and Pakistan and will also be an important threshold for regional energy security. I wish the agreement to be beneficial for the two countries in advance,” Bayraktar stated.
In July last year, Türkiye signed an agreement granting exclusive rights to explore and produce hydrocarbons in three blocks in Somalia, covering a combined area of 5,000km².
Russia and Pakistan are also exploring potential cooperation in offshore oil and gas exploration and refining, following intergovernmental meetings in December 2024 in Moscow.
Discussions included Russia potentially supplying Pakistan with crude oil and grain as part of efforts to strengthen energy ties.
Since 2022, Russia has regularly supplied oil to Pakistan after the EU embargo on Russian energy products.
In a related development, MariEnergies has struck oil at the Shawal-1 well at its fully owned Mari Development & Production Lease in Sindh Province, Pakistan.
The company successfully drilled the well to a depth of 1,136m at the Ghazij Formation.
