ISLAMABAD. Apt 3: The Pakistan government Sunday announced discovery of - a petroleum deposit with a daily production of 1.700 barrels of oil and five million cubic feet of natural gas. reports AFP.

The total potential of the oil and gas reserves has not yet been established.

The well, drilled at a cost of nine million dollars at Prindori. 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of here, is producing oil and gas at a stable rate.. Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Anwar Salfullah.

It lies close to the area where two wells drilled by Occidental were abandoned by ■ the US company in .1991 and 1992. one after it blew out arid the other due to non-com-mercial production.

The discovery has been made by Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL), a public limited company, in a joint venture

with Attock Oli Company (AOCJ. a British concern here, and. state-owned Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC).

The OGDC will have 50 per cent share in production while 35 per Cent will go to POL and 15 per cent to AOC.

Salfullah said 22 oil companies. including five local companies, were engaged in oil exploration and production in Pakistan, which has an indigenous supply of 60.000 barrels per day, or 20 per cent of its requirements.

The country, which annually spends 1.8 billion dollars pn oil imports, also has plans td import gas from Iran. Qatar and Central Asian State of Turkmenistan due to depleting reserves, Salfullah said.

He said the incentives given by the government in a petroleum policy last year had helped attract more foreign investment.