Karachi (Platts)--4Dec2012/417 am EST/917 GMT

The Pakistan government has extended the bid submission deadline for its upstream oil and gas licensing round by 90 days to March 10, 2013, an official at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told Platts Tuesday.

"Extension has been given for 90 days; a routine matter. It was due to expire on December 10, 2012. Now, companies can place bids up to March 10, 2013 to get a working license for the oil and gas blocks," said the official who declined to be named or provide a specific reason for the extension.

According to industry sources based in Pakistan, however, the government received fewer-than-expected bids, hence the extension.

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The government offered 60 oil and gas blocks for exploration in October in a bid to boost upstream activity in the country, which has slowed in recent years due to low wellhead gas prices offered by the government and the impact of circular debt issues in the country's oil and gas sector. The new licensing round is part a new policy to spur oil and gas development and includes an increase in rates for any gas produced to $6-9/MMBtu, from $4.20/MMBtu, Platts reported earlier.

Pakistan's current domestic gas demand exceeds its production capacity of 4.2 Bcf/day by 1.2-1.4 Bcf/day, which increases to 2 Bcf/day in winter. If ample gas is not discovered within 3-4 years, the shortfall is projected to increase to 2.5-3 Bcf/day.

--Haris Zamir, newsdesk@platts.com --Edited by Deepa Vijiyasingam, deepa_vijiyasingam@platts.com

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