Mari Energies secures key stakes in 3 oil and gas blocks from Orient Petroleum

Mari Energies Limited (MARI) has signed farm-out agreements with Orient Petroleum Inc. (OPI) for strategic stakes in three oil and gas fields, strengthening its upstream portfolio across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Punjab.

According to a statement submitted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, MARI will acquire a 45% working interest and operatorship in the Marwat Block and Harnai South Block, along with a 20% non-operating interest in the Ratana Development and Production lease.

The Marwat Block, currently 85% owned and operated by OPI, is located near Waziristan and Wali-West blocks, both already under MARI's operatorship. The block lies in a hydrocarbon-rich region where recent discoveries such as Shewa-1 and Spinwam have yielded gas reserves of 350 billion and 799 billion cubic feet (BCF), respectively. According to OPI, the area has a success rate of around 60% for hydrocarbon finds.

The Harnai South Block is situated in a structurally complex region of Balochistan and is adjacent to proven fields like Zarghun South, Bolan East, and Maiwand X-1. MARI is the current operator for all three of these blocks. Bolan East, in particular, produces over 800 barrels of oil per day (BOPD), and Maiwand X-1 was declared a new discovery in February.

The third asset, the Ratana field, was originally discovered in 1992 and contains five proven hydrocarbon reserves. The field currently holds 129.52 BCF of remaining gas out of an initial 199.5 BCF. Located near prolific oil fields such as Meyal, Dhulian, and Dhurnal—which had original recoverable reserves of 43 million, 43 million, and 61 million barrels of oil, respectively—the Ratana field is considered geologically promising. Notably, the Dhurnal field once achieved a production peak of 20,000 BOPD in 1988.

According to research by brokerage Topline Securities, all three assets are “quite rich” in hydrocarbon potential based on vicinity analysis. The firm noted that MARI’s strong track record in exploration and development, including recent successes at Spinwam, Shewa, and Soho, bolsters confidence that the company will be able to realize the full commercial value of these fields.

The deal marks another step in MARI’s strategy to expand its footprint across Pakistan’s energy sector by acquiring interests in blocks with proven and near-proven reserves, particularly in regions where the company already operates infrastructure.