ISLAMABAD: Turkish seismic vessel Karachi November 2026 is the big energy story of the week, as a Turkish survey ship is set to arrive in Karachi between 17 and 20 November to begin offshore oil and gas exploration. The Petroleum Division announced the plan on Friday after a meeting chaired by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik. The arrival will mark the return of offshore exploration in Pakistan after a gap of nearly two decades, and it is being described as a milestone in energy ties with Turkiye.
The Turkish Petroleum Offshore Company TPOC operates the seismic vessel, and it is the offshore arm of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation. The company has entered into partnership agreements for three offshore blocks in Pakistan with local state owned companies. The vessel will survey the seabed to map rock formations and find where oil and gas may be trapped below the sea floor. A seismic survey does not drill for oil, but it gives the data that decides where drilling should happen later.
The Pakistan offshore exploration 20 years gap is the reason this arrival matters so much. The government could not auction offshore blocks for exploration from 2006 to 2007 for various reasons, and earlier exploration in the offshore basin did not find commercial results. The Offshore Bid Round 2025 40 blocks offer was launched in January last year after a gap of 18 years, to grant exploration licences in Indus and Makran offshore blocks near Sindh and Balochistan. The Turkish vessel is the first practical step after that bidding round.
The Eastern Offshore Indus C block gas potential is the main focus of the first survey. The Turkish company holds a 25 per cent interest and the operatorship in the Eastern Offshore Indus C block in the Arabian Sea. The block is estimated to hold 1.5 to 2 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to Pakistan Petroleum Limited, which carried out 2D and 3D surveys there. That estimate is based on survey data, and only drilling can confirm how much gas can actually be produced.
The OGDCL Mari Energies PPL partnership is the local side of the deal. The Turkish company entered into partnership agreements for three blocks with the Oil and Gas Development Company, Mari Energies and Pakistan Petroleum Limited. These are the three big state owned energy companies of Pakistan, and they bring local knowledge of the offshore basin to the project. The minister said the vessel would be personally received on arrival, which shows how much importance the government places on the visit.
The meeting in Islamabad reviewed the full plan for receiving the ship and starting the survey. Officials looked at operational, logistical and maritime arrangements, along with security and coordination between departments. The Petroleum Division said the campaign will build energy security for Pakistan and deepen bilateral energy cooperation with Turkiye. The work follows the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed between the two countries, which the division described as a special milestone in the relationship.
The vessel itself is a seismic research ship, and the Turkish energy minister has said it is the Oruc Reis heading towards waters off Pakistan. That name comes from the Turkish minister Alparslan Bayraktar, and it was reported by The Express Tribune. Dawn, which first reported the arrival dates, does not name the vessel in its report. Readers should treat the name as reported by the Turkish side until the ship is seen in Karachi, and the dates of 17 to 20 November remain the confirmed part of the plan.
Pakistan has been working to reopen its offshore sector since May this year, when production sharing agreements and exploration licences were signed for blocks awarded under the Offshore Bid Round 2025. Arab News reported that 23 offshore blocks were awarded last year, with investment potentially reaching one billion dollars. The offshore basin off Sindh and Balochistan has long been seen as promising, but no commercial discovery has been made there so far. A successful survey would be the first step towards changing that record.
If the survey finds strong signs of gas, the next stage will be drilling, which takes more time and money and carries no guarantee of success. For now, the arrival of the ship is a concrete sign that offshore exploration is moving again after a long pause. Households and industry in Pakistan both need more gas, and a home grown offshore supply would ease the pressure on imports. The country will watch the Karachi arrival in the third week of November to see the campaign begin.
