By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: The government has released funds amounting to Rs 293.257 million during first seven months of the of current fiscal year to execute petroleum projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2019-20) against the total allocation of Rs581.812 million.
According to the official data as of January 24, an amount of Rs 8.442 million has been provided to explore and evaluate coal in Nosham and Bahlol areas of Balochistan, for which Rs10.553 million have been earmarked in the PSDP.
While, Rs 54 million have been released against the allocation of Rs70 million for expansion and up-gradation of Pakistan Petroleum Corehouse (PETCORE) to ensure its sustainable operations and facilitate oil and gas exploration research in the country.
Similarly, a sum of Rs 60.252 million has been provided under a project to up-grade Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP)’s POL testing facilities at Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and ISO Certification of Petroleum Testing Laboratory at Islamabad. This year, the government will spend Rs77.960 million for up-gradation of the HDIP labs.
An amount of Rs 166.614 million has been issued for acquiring new drilling rigs and equipment against allocation of Rs 416.535, while Rs 1.462 for appraisal of newly discovered coal resources in Badin Coal-field and its adjoining areas of southern Sindh, for which the government earmarked Rs 3.655 million in the PSDP.
Whereas, an amount of Rs 2.487 million has been disbursed for exploration and evaluation of metallic minerals in Uthal and Bela areas of Lasbela district, Balochistan, for which the government would Rs 3.109 during the current fiscal year.
