Pakistan Revives Offshore Energy Hunt After Two Decades

Pakistan moved back into offshore energy exploration on Wednesday after nearly two decades, as the government signed Production Sharing Agreements and Exploration Licences for offshore blocks under the Offshore Bid Round 2025. The development marks a major attempt to reopen the country’s maritime petroleum frontier at a time when imported fuel continues to weigh heavily on the national economy.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Federal Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik, who described the agreements as an important step in rebuilding investor interest in Pakistan’s upstream energy sector. The newly awarded blocks are located in the Indus and Makran offshore basins, adjoining the territorial waters of Sindh and Balochistan.

According to the report, the Offshore Bid Round 2025 drew bids covering around 54,600 square kilometres of Pakistan’s offshore area. In total, 23 offshore blocks have been awarded, giving public and private energy companies a renewed opportunity to examine hydrocarbon prospects beneath Pakistan’s coastal and deep-sea zones.

Officials said two offshore blocks from the same bid round, Offshore Deep-C and Offshore Deep-F, had already been executed on December 2, 2025. Those agreements involved Mari Energies Limited, Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company and Fatima Petroleum Company Limited during a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Speaking on the occasion, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said the latest signing reflected the government’s commitment to reviving offshore exploration, attracting domestic and foreign investment, and reducing Pakistan’s dependence on imported energy. He said the response from investors showed confidence in the country’s offshore upstream potential.

Pakistan’s offshore frontier covers an estimated 282,623 square kilometres, yet only 18 exploratory wells have been drilled since independence. This limited drilling history has left much of the country’s maritime resource base underexplored, despite repeated assessments pointing to the need for deeper geological and seismic work.

The government has also introduced regulatory measures to support the new exploration push. These include Offshore Petroleum Rules and a Model Production Sharing Agreement, both aimed at improving transparency, competitiveness and confidence for investors entering a high-cost, high-risk sector.

The move carries major economic importance for Pakistan because the country spends heavily on imported oil, gas and petroleum products. Even modest progress in offshore exploration could support long-term energy security, strengthen foreign exchange planning and create new opportunities for local technical and service industries.

The next stage will involve companies carrying out geological studies, seismic surveys and technical assessments before any drilling decisions are made. While offshore exploration takes time and success is never guaranteed, the revival of licensing activity signals that Pakistan is trying to reopen a strategic energy pathway that has remained largely dormant for years.