Translation by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia

Excerpts;

Once again, Ishak Soomro shares his research, concerns and warnings on another important natural resource of Sindh that remain largely unknown to the common people of Sindh. His bold article on the off-shore resources of Sindh was printed in Sindhi Daily Ibrat Feb 10, 2010.

According to the article, Pakistan Government has allotted 18 exploration licenses to five (5) multi-national oil companies. The awardees include British Petroleum (BP) which has a dubious record of spending its civil society commitments to please bureaucrats and local chieftains instead of improving conditions of local communities. Other companies include Italy-based ENI, Canadian company called Niko, and Pakistani companies OGDCL and PPL. Mostof these companies already operate on-shore oil and gas fields in Sindh and have checkered records on meeting the commitments on their already profitable on-land oil and gas producing fields. It must be noted that exploring off-shore fields poses greater risks to coastal communities as these activities often destroy livelihood of local fishing families.

Continue reading Sindh’s rich Off-shore Oil and Gas Resources →