Islamabad: The Petroleum Division on Wednesday revealed that the formation of a ‘Shale Gas Policy’ was currently underway to enable the country to ‘benefit from the massive hydrocarbon reserves’ available to it, a news source reported. It added that the proposed framework would incentivize various multinational companies to undertake exploration gigs in Pakistan.
According to the details shared, USAID sponsored an exploration study in 2015. The study collected Shale cores and cuttings from 124 wells dug in the lower and middle Indus basin. These were sent to the US for a detailed analysis. The results later confirmed the presence of 10,159 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of Shale gas and 2,323 billion of stock tank barrels (BSTB) of Shale oil in Pakistan.
Sources revealed that the untapped reserves stretch across 271,700 kilometres, which was 33% of the total sedimentary area of Pakistan – in Sindh, Eastern Balochistan, and South Punjab. They added that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) also shared a Shale Gas Assessment Report in 2015. This report revealed that the country had 105 TCF of Shale gas and 9.1 BSTB of Shale oil.
Currently, Pakistan’s demand of natural gas stands at six billion cubic feet per day (BCFD). Less than four BCFD of this amount is produced domestically. According to experts, the country can become self-sufficient in gas and oil production for next several decades if these untapped resources are utilised.
