PPL Hands Operatorship of Offshore Indus Block to Turkish Petroleum
Deal brings Turkiye into Pakistan’s offshore exploration; OGDCL, Mari Energies join consortium
In a major boost to Pakistan’s offshore energy ambitions, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has announced a strategic partnership with Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC), transferring operatorship of the Eastern Offshore Indus Block-C to the Turkish firm under a landmark farm-out agreement.
The deal marks one of the most significant foreign collaborations in Pakistan’s oil and gas sector in recent years and follows months of high-level engagement between Islamabad and Ankara to deepen bilateral cooperation and attract foreign direct investment into the country’s energy sector.
Under the agreement, PPL will assign a 25 percent participating interest (PI) and operatorship to TPOC — a subsidiary of Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO), Turkiye’s national oil company — while Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Mari Energies Limited (MariEnergies) will each take a 20 percent PI stake. PPL will retain the remaining 35 percent and continue to play a leading role in the block’s development.
The partnership is expected to inject global expertise, technology, and capital into Pakistan’s offshore exploration program, an area long seen as holding untapped hydrocarbon potential. Regulatory approvals for the transfer are currently underway.
PPL said the collaboration reflects a “brotherly and strategic” understanding between Pakistan and Turkiye to integrate international best practices into Pakistan’s offshore operations and accelerate energy sector growth.
Industry observers view the move as a confidence-building milestone for Pakistan’s offshore exploration landscape, where limited activity has been carried out in recent years due to technical challenges and high costs.
The consortium — comprising PPL, TPOC, OGDCL, and MariEnergies — aims to conduct advanced exploration and seismic studies in the Indus Block-C, a high-potential area of the Arabian Sea. Officials said the partnership sets the foundation for long-term cooperation in energy exploration between the two nations.
“This collaboration not only strengthens Pakistan-Turkiye energy ties but also signals renewed investor confidence in Pakistan’s offshore potential,” PPL said in a statement.
