Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL)

Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) is one of the pioneer exploration and production (E&P) companies in Pakistan oil and gas sector. On behalf of the Government of Pakistan (GoP), the Privatisation Commission (PC) is proceeding with a strategic sale of 51% shareholding in PPL along with transfer of management control.

Merrill Lynch International and KASB Securities (Pvt.) Ltd. (KASB) have been appointed as the Financial Advisor (FA) for the strategic sale. In July 2004, the GoP successfully concluded an offer for sale and initial public offering of 15% shares of PPL on the domestic stock exchanges.

The PC invited Expressions of Interests (“EOIs”) from interested parties on February 17, 2005. The Parties submitting EOIs were requested to submit and Statements of Qualifications (“SoQs”) by April 30, 2005 whereby eleven parties submitted SoQs to the Privatisation Commission. Six parties were pre-qualified to continue to the next stage of the privatisation process. As of August 2006 three pre-qualified parties were ready to proceed for the bidding. However, the privatisation process is being reviewed in the light of the supreme Court's judgment in the Pakistan Steel Mills case.

PPL was incorporated in June 1950 with the Burmah Oil Company (renamed Burmah Castrol) and GoP as its principal shareholders.

After more than 50 years of successful operations PPL continues to be a prominent E&P player in Pakistan with:

     Sui, Pakistan’s oldest and largest gas field discovered and operated by PPL,
        contributing 25% of Pakistan’s gas production;
     Remaining proven plus probable (2P) reserves of 6.9 tcf gas and 39.6 mmstb
        oil/NGL) as of June 30 2005;
    Average FY2005 production of 948 MMcfd of natural gas and 1,759 bbld of crude
        oil/NGL;
    FY2005 revenues of PKR 23,294 million (US$ 388 million) and profit after tax of PKR
       8,623 million (US$ 144 million);
    Significant portfolio of non-operated assets, including Qadirpur, Sawan and Miano,
       Block-22 and Tal;
   Strong exploration track record and prospective exploration portfolio, and
   Replacement of PPL’s 1982 Gas Price Agreement (GPA) with the 2002 GPA allowing
       gas price increases under a phased 5-year program starting July 2002.
 

PPL was incorporated on June 5, 1950 whereby the company inherited the assets and liabilities of the Burmah Oil Company Limited and commenced operations on July 1, 1952. At the time of incorporation, the Burmah Oil Company held the majority stake of 70% with GoP accounting for 30% stake and the balance held by private Pakistani shareholders. Burmah Oil divested 6% of its shares to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 1982, whereas in 1997 it sold the remaining shareholding to the GoP.

In July 2004, the Government successfully concluded a 15% offer for sale and IPO of the company on the domestic stock exchanges at PKR 55 per share. The basic issue was for 10% shares with a green-shoe option of another 5% and the entire issue was 3.7 times oversubscribed. The current shareholders of PPL are the Government of Pakistan (78.35%), International Finance Corporation (6.09%) and institutional and individual investors (15.56%). 
 

The Company’s holds operatorship of major oil and gas fields including Sui, Kandhkot, Adhi and Mazarani, while its non-operated portfolio includes interests in the Qadirpur, Miano, Sawan and Tal fields. The Company’s exploration portfolio includes operated and non-operated joint ventures in 10 onshore blocks and 2 offshore blocks.

PPL holds joint ownership with the Government of Balochistan in Bolan Mining Enterprises (BME), which is involved in the business of mining exploratory well-drilling grade barite powder. BME is the operator of the Gunga barytes mine in Baluchistan. Share of profit in BME at year end June 30, 2005 was PKR 29.263 million.

PPL’s head office is located in Karachi. The company’s total staff strength is about 2,536 employees including 640 management staff and 1,896 non-management staff.

The proven plus probable remaining recoverable reserves (2P) of PPL operated and non-operated interests as of June 30, 2005 were 6.9 trillion cubic feet of gas and 39.6 million standard barrels of oil/NGL. For the FY 2005, PPL’s average production was 948 mmcf/d gas and 1,759 bbl/d oil. The company’s share in average production from its operated and non-operated joint venture fields are as follows:

PPL has an authorized share capital of Rs. 10 billion. The issued, subscribed and paid-up capital is Rs. 6,860 million (686 million shares issued at a par value of PKR 10). The key financial highlights of PPL are given below.

Source: PPL Audited accounts for FY 2005