Oil and gas Exploration and Production (E&P) companies drilled 102 wells during the past four years and discovered 38 reservoirs, raising the natural gas production from 3.98 Billion Cubic Feet (BCFD) per day to 4.25 BCFD. A senior official of the Petroleum Ministry said on Friday that the Ministry awarded 41 exploration licences between 2008 and 2012.
The official said that the government was likely to offer 60 blocks for bidding under the new Petroleum Policy to expedite the exploration and production of oil and gas. Around 750 Mmcfd gas would be added to the system within the next 12 to 18 months, which would increase the local gas production to 5 Bcfd, he maintained.
The official said that search for oil and gas had been halted in Khyber-Paktunkhwa and Balochistan because of adverse security situation. During 2011-12, he said, a total 10 discoveries were made which included: (i) Mulaki-1 producing 13.34 Million Cubic Feet (MMCFD) per day and 71.09 barrels of crude oil; (ii) Halini-1 producing 630.9 barrels of crude oil, (iii) Gharo-1 producing 0.03 MMCFD gas and 296.97 barrels of crude oil, (iv) Mohano producing 0.05 MMCFD gas and 128.53 barrels of crude oil, (v) Pir Apan-1 19.9 MMCFD gas and 432.9 barrels of crude oil, (vi) Piaro Deep-I 11.85 MMCFD gas and 111.37 barrels of crude oil and (vii) Nupur Deep-1 producing 3.09 MMCFD gas.
According to the official, the share of gas in Pakistan's energy mix was 51 percent, the largest in the world. The government, he said, was also working on importing gas, including Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) gas pipeline projects to meet the growing energy demand in the country.
"Work on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is at a fairly advanced stage. Under the project, Pakistan will build nearly 800-kilometre-long pipeline from Iran-Pakistan border to Nawabshah. The venture has entered into the implementation phase and work on front end engineering and design, feasibility and detailed route survey has already been completed, 2012," the official maintained.
According to him, the government will soon invite bids for construction of the pipeline to complete the project within its timeframe. Similarly, Tapi gas pipeline project is being undertaken, which would cost around $7.6 billion. All stakeholders have achieved consensus on a number of issues and accordingly signed three agreements in December 2010. First gas flow is expected in 2016 and Pakistan will get 1.325BCFD of gas - almost double of Iran-Pakistan project. During last four years, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) provided 1.4 million new gas connections to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers.
Comments
Comments are closed.