After militants attacked the energy facility on Tuesday, Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), an operator of the TAL block, said on Wednesday that all of MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company’s plant and field installations in Hangu district remained safe and hydrocarbon production is normal.
“As per information received from MOL, the operator of TAL Block, an armed attack at Manzalai-08 and Manzalai-10 well sites was reported late hours of May 22, 2023, wherein six (06) personnel embraced martyrdom after putting up a brave fight,” read the notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) by POL, which has a 25% pre-commerciality working interest.
The notice read that both the wells were shut from the central control room to avert any damage from the firing causing production curtailment of approximately 4 million meter standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and 24 barrels per day (bpd) of oil.
“All of the plants and field installations are safe, and hydrocarbon production from the rest of the well is normal,” it added.
On Tuesday, militants stormed a natural gas and oil extraction plant run by the MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas Company in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
As per Reuters, the militants targeted two wells – M-8 and M-10 – with heavy weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, said the police.
“The security guards at M-8 repulsed the terrorists’ attack, but the casualties occurred at M-10,” police official Irfan Khan said.
He went on to say that the militants also destroyed a solar power plant at the gas power plant before fleeing to neighbouring North Waziristan, from which they had come.
MOL Pakistan operates the oil and gas facility. According to the company’s website, it employs approximately 400 people and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hungary-based MOL Group.
MOL Group confirmed the death toll but stated that no of its employees were killed.
