Hungary's MOL sees Pakistan gas output jump by Dec

By Augustine Anthony ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL on Wednesday said production from the Tal block natural gas field in northwest Pakistan would more than double to 250 million cubic feet per day by December. MOL on Wednesday inaugurated a central gas processing facility to collect natural gas and condensate from seven wells the company has drilled in the Tal block it operates. Current production from the field in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, where the Taliban has been active since 2007, is 120 million cubic feet per day. "Tal Block will be supplying 250 million cubic feet of gas and 4,280 barrels of condensate per day," MOL's Chief Executive Officer Gyorgy Mosonyi told a news conference. MOL, the field's operator, has made four commercial discoveries there since 2002, the latest of which came in October. MOL expects further drilling will increase gas supply to 300 million cubic feet per day by 2013, Mosonyi said. MOL, Hungary's largest corporation by sales revenues, holds a 10 percent stake in the block. Other shareholders include Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd and Government Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. The group also plans to start new drilling from the first quarter of the next year at blocks in Margala, a mountainous region that shares boundaries with the capital Islamabad. Pakistan's unexplored gas reserves are estimated at 62.26 trillion cubic feet (TCF) with oil reserves at 3.5 billion barrels. Total proven oil reserves are an estimated 313 million barrels, and proven gas reserves are estimated at 29.67 trillion cubic feet, much of it in Baluchistan. The southwestern province produces about half of Pakistan's natural gas. Pakistan imports about 80 percent of its oil. It spent $9.5 billion importing 10.6 million tonnes of petroleum products and 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil in 2008/09 (July-June). (Editing by Bryson Hull and Keiron Henderson) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to [e-mail]) Keywords: PAKISTAN OIL/MOL (E-mail: [e-mail]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]; Islamabad newsroom: [phone]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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