He said that since local production of gas is dwindling by five percent to seven percent annually, the government would continue to import the LNG to cater to local demand.
Babar highlighted some positive trends that the country's energy market will witness in the foreseeable future including awarding of around 35-40 oil, gas exploration and production blocks.
He said shale gas exploration activities would also commence by the next month. He encouraged the private sector to join hands with the government to further the agenda of energy security and prosperity of the country. He said Pakistan was taking tangible steps towards implementing key infrastructure reforms in the country's oil and gas sector.
Babar highlighted the salient aspects of Pakistan's energy mix stressing the need to undertake up-gradation of all of the country's refineries. He said that existing technology being utilized in the country's refineries is obsolete rendering the current refining methods outdated. They may even be closed down entirely or phased out. The government is working towards setting up two new refineries and ensuring up-gradation of existing ones.
Local and multinational oil and gas companies also arranged a number of stalls for information of participants and general public. These include Oliotech Oilfield Services (Pvt) Ltd, Bureau Veritas, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, Schlumberger Pakistan.
Oliotech Oilfield Services (Pvt) Ltd is providing equipment rentals and specialized services. The company was also part of joint venture of ExxonMobil, ENI, OGDCL and PPL in Kekra-1 (Karachi) offshore well drilling.
Another company Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KSCC), a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, has various projects in Asia region including Pakistan. It has been engaged in exploration activities in Bhit & Badhra, Qadirpur, Paharpur, Bela West, Makhad, Kadanwari and Zamzama onshore gas fields.
Bureau Veritas is a French company which is providing third party certification to upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas companies. The company is also involved in agricultural and agri-food products.