The Kekra-1 exploration well is scheduled to be plugged and abandoned as the consortium didn’t unearth hydrocarbons in the area. Rystad Energy commented that in a major setback for Pakistan’s oil ambitions, as the much-awaited Kekra-01 well in the Arabian Sea turned out to be a duster.
Pakistan was positive and expected positive results from the well, which had a pre-drill resource estimate of about 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
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Rystad added that Prime Minister Imran Khan had many expectations from the well, as he wished Pakistan to be an energy self-sufficient country.
Palzor Shenga, Senior Analyst at Rystad Energy, noted
The dry well comes as a major blow not only for the country, but also for the companies involved. The drilling campaign initially had a budget of between $75 million and $80 million, which later grew to approximately $100 million due to technical complications.
Italian major Eni, as operartor, together with US supermajor ExxonMobil and local players PPL and OGDCL as partners, drilled the Kekra-1 prospect, which Rystad Energy earlier this year ranked as one of the most promising high-impact wells of 2019 (link).
Eni chartered the Saipem 12000 in October 2018, and has the 25% in the venture and is the operator of the exploration license for the site.
