Massive oil, gas reserves found in Pakistani waters: Report

A rainbow is seen over a pumpjack extracting oil and gas from wells near Calgary, Alberta, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Canada has the world’s third-largest oil reserves and is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP) | Photo credit: AP

According to a media report, huge reserves of petroleum and natural gas have been found in Pakistan’s waters. This reserve is so huge that its exploitation can change the destiny of the country.

A three-year survey was carried out with the cooperation of a friendly country to confirm the presence of oil and gas reserves, Dawn News TV quoted a senior security official as saying on Friday.

Geographic surveys have helped Pakistan identify the location of reserves, and relevant departments have informed the government about resources found in Pakistani waters.

Describing it as an effort to tap the “blue water economy”, the official said bids and exploration proposals were being studied, which meant exploration work could begin in the near future.

However, he said, drilling the well and actually extracting the oil could take several years.

But the ‘blue water economy’ isn’t just about oil and gas; there are many other valuable minerals and elements that can be extracted from the ocean.

The official said that taking initiative and quick action can help change the country’s economic situation.

According to some estimates, this discovery is the fourth largest oil and gas reserve in the world.

Currently, Venezuela is considered the leader in oil reserves with around 3.4 billion barrels, while the US has the largest untapped shale oil reserves.

The rest of the top five includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada and Iraq.

Speaking to Dawn News TV, former Ogra (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) member Muhammad Arif said although the country should remain optimistic, there is never 100% certainty that the discovery of reserves will happen as expected.

When asked if these reserves are sufficient to meet the country’s energy requirements, he said it depends on the size of production and the recovery rate.

“If it is gas reserves, it can replace LNG imports and if it is oil reserves, we can replace imported oil.” However, he warned that this is “wishful thinking” until the prospects of the reserves are analysed and the drilling process begins.

He pointed out that exploration alone would require a massive investment of about $5 billion and it could take four to five years to extract reserves from the offshore location.

He said if the exploration results in the discovery of reserves, more investment would be required for wells and setting up of infrastructure to extract the reserves and produce the fuel, Dawn reported.