Pakistan clears TPOC-led consortium to operate offshore block

Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb (fourth right) chairs a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet at the Finance Division in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 18, 2025. (Finance Ministry)
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Updated 18 November 2025
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Pakistan clears TPOC-led consortium to operate offshore block

  • TPOC will hold 25% and operate block once formal agreement is signed
  • Move to bring operating experience to Pakistan’s exploration landscape

KARACHI: Pakistan approved a new offshore exploration consortium on Tuesday, clearing Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company to take over operatorship of the Eastern Offshore Block-C as part of a push to revive drilling, the adviser to the finance ministry said.

Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee approved Pakistan Petroleum Limited’s request to assign part of its interest in the block to TPOC, Mari Energies and state-run Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd, leaving PPL with a 35% stake.

TPOC will hold 25% and will operate the block once a formal agreement is signed.

“This will bring valuable international offshore operating experience to Pakistan’s exploration landscape and this transition is expected to enhance technical capabilities, operational efficiency, and overall project delivery,” Khurram Schehzad, the adviser to the finance ministry said on X.

He said the block contains a drill-ready prospect that the consortium will now pursue, a step he added could attract fresh foreign investment.

With the ECC’s approval, the consortium is now set to advance preparations for drilling operations, he said.

In October, bids were awarded for 23 of 40 offshore blocks offered, covering around 53,500 square kilometers, in Pakistan’s first offshore bidding round since 2007.

Pakistan’s 300,000 square kilometer offshore zone, bordering energy-rich Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, has seen just 18 wells drilled since independence in 1947, too few to fully assess its hydrocarbon potential.


Pakistan compensates families of victims in Islamabad mosque suicide attack claimed by Daesh

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Pakistan compensates families of victims in Islamabad mosque suicide attack claimed by Daesh

  • Pakistan is paying compensation totalling more than $700,000 to the families of 40 people killed
  • Attack was deadliest in capital since 2008 truck bombing that killed 60 people at Marriott Hotel

Pakistan is paying compensation totalling more than $700,000 to the families of 40 people killed in a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad this month, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.

The February 6 attack claimed by the Daesh group on the outskirts of the capital was the deadliest in Islamabad since a 2008 truck bombing that killed 60 people at the Marriott Hotel.

“Relief cheques have been delivered to the heirs of 36 martyrs belonging to Islamabad,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said in a statement, adding each victim’s family received five million rupees (around $17,800).

Cheques will also be delivered to four families of victims living outside Islamabad, the statement said.

Although officials have not released a final death toll, the statement marked the first official acknowledgement that 40 people were killed in the blast.

The suicide attack occurred during Friday prayers, when mosques around the country are packed with worshippers.

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority nation, but Shiites make up between 10 and 15 percent of the population and have been targeted in attacks throughout the region in the past.

The last major attack in Islamabad took place in November when a suicide blast outside a court killed 12 people and wounded dozens, the first such incident to hit the capital in nearly three years.

The bombings come as Pakistan’s security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and northern provinces that border Afghanistan.

Last year, militant assaults killed 1,235 people — including 825 security personnel and 400 civilians — with 27 suicide attacks reported nationwide and 2,597 militants killed.