State-owned energy company Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) on Thursday rejected media reports claiming it is constructing an artificial island off the coast of Sindh for oil and gas exploration, saying the project solely pertains to preparatory work for drilling in a difficult marshland environment.
A day earlier, Bloomberg News had claimed PPL has commenced work to reclaim land from the sea to construct an artificial island for oil and gas exploration. Quoting PPL General Manager Exploration and Core Business Development Arshad Palekar, the report claimed the island would be situated around 30 kilometers off the coast of Sindh, near Sujawal.
Rejecting the report as “misleading,” PPL said it did not “fully reflect the technical scope and design of the project.” The ongoing construction activity, it said, aimed to ensure safe and stable drilling operations in the tide-affected Sirani Block near Sujawal. The area has remained largely unexplored due to severe accessibility and operational constraints.
“The activities underway relate to enabling safe drilling operations in a challenging marshy environment, rather than the development of a standalone offshore island,” said the company, maintaining this was one of the country’s first attempts to drill in such terrain. It said 2D and 3D seismic surveys using specialized transition-zone equipment had already been completed.
“Construction work is currently underway to facilitate drilling, including loading and offloading jetties and an access road linking the jetty to the well site,” it said, noting the access road and well-pad were being elevated by about nine feet due to the marshy subsoil and tidal conditions. “This is essential to ensure operational continuity and mitigate the effects of low and high tides,” it said.
The well site lies nearly 30 kilometers from the mainland, said PPL, adding a 17km natural water channel would be used to transport rig components and material via barges between the jetties. “The exploratory well is scheduled to be spud in March 2026,” it said.
According to the Bloomberg report, Islamabad has ramped up drilling operations in light of U.S. President Donald Trump expressing interest in the country’s oil reserves, as well as a recent study indicating a significant reserve of hydrocarbons in offshore basins.