KARACHI (Associated Press of Pakistan) – New Horizon Exploration & Production Limited (NHEPL) has signed a production sharing agreement with a Tajikistan based company to develop their Sulduzy Field located in the Tajik-Afghan Basin in southern part of Tajikistan.

NHEPL is a KASB Group company with its head office in Karachi. Sulduzy Field is owned and operated by Hassan & Company. Wamiq Bokhari, Chairman and CEO of NHEPL said that Sulduzy field was discovered just prior to the break-up of the Soviet Union and was never developed to its full potential. He said that NHEPL would utilize its technical expertise and make needed investments to fully develop the field.

A total of 19 wells were drilled in the field. Some wells in the field tested good volumes of oil but have never been completed to produce.

NHEPL will earn 50% of the incremental production as per the agreement and hopes to open an office in the near future in Dushanbe and place some of its staff in the field.

On this occasion, Mr. Suo Lang Duo Ji (Li Yan), a prominent Chinese businessman and Chairman of KASB Bank also visited the Sulduzy field along with Nasir Bukhari and Arif Bukhari of the KASB Group.

NHEPL is registered in the province of Sindh and started its operations on 16 October 2006. NHEPL was awarded its first exploration license, Kunri Block, by the Government of Pakistan on June 5, 2007 and the second exploration license, Jherruck Block, on January 31, 2008. In both licenses, NHEPL is joined by multinational joint ventures partners like Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Kuwait Energy Company (KEC). NHEPL has acquired substantial 2D data and have conducted technical evaluations of both blocks. NHEPL has identified several prospective drilling at Jherruck and Kunri. The company has drilled two wells to data with a gas discovery in one of them. Plans exist to acquire additional exploration blocks in the near future.

NHEPL’s in-house expertise covers geology, geophysics, operations, HSE, reservoir engineering, drilling, procurement, project management, legal and IT.