Pakistan, currently going through an acute economic crisis, has discovered huge deposits of petroleum and natural gas in its territorial waters! The Dawn daily reported that the deposits, likely to be fourth-largest in the world, could help the South Asian nation to boost its economy in the coming years!
Dawn published a report in the first week of September 2024, mentioning that a three-year geographic survey conducted in collaboration with a friendly nation helped Pakistan to find the oil and gas reserves. After identifying the location of the deposits, the concerned departments informed the Government about the resources discovered in territorial waters of Pakistan. A senior Pakistani official, who wished to remain anonymous, stressed that his country would benefit a lot from the Blue Water Economy. He also said that the concerned authorities were studying proposals for bidding and exploration work!
Meanwhile, the official admitted that the work of digging wells and getting oil out could take several years. He hinted that other valuable minerals and elements could also be mined from the ocean, apart from oil and gas. He also urged the Government of Pakistan to act quickly in an attempt to turn around the economic fortunes of the country.
Muhammad Arif, a former member of Pakistan's Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), told Dawn that it was a great discovery, as there was never a 100% certainty that the reserves would be discovered. According to Arif, whether the newly discovered reserve could meet the energy needs of Pakistan depends on its size and recovery rate of the production. "If this is a gas reserve, it can replace LNG imports and if these are oil reserves, we can substitute imported oil," he stressed.
Arif believes that the Government of Pakistan would analyse the prospects of the reserve carefully before the beginning of the drilling process. He told Dawn that as exploration would require an investment of around USD 5 billion, Islamabad should consult with experts before inviting private players for the drilling. According to Arif, the Government would also have to develop a proper infrastructure for extracting the reserves and producing fuel.
Currently, Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves with around 3.4 billion barrels, while the US has the most untapped shale oil reserves. Other top four countries with a substantial deposit of petroleum and natural gas are: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada and Iraq.
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