ISLAMABAD: Oil and gas Exploration and Production (E&P) companies operating in different potential areas of the country made 101 new discoveries during last four years, which helped addition of 944 mmcfd gas, 32,343 bpd oil added in the system.
“During tenure of the current government, 466 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) additional gas from new discoveries and 478 mmcfd gas from existing fields, while 11,149 barrels per day (bpd) oil from new finds and 21,194 bpd from existing wells have so far been added in the system,” official sources in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.
Commenting on new discoveries, they said 68 finds, out of total 101, had added proven reserves of about 5.4 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, while the calculation of 33 well were yet to be determined. As many as 87 finds have been made in Sindh, seven each in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The companies drilled over 179 exploratory and 194 appraisal wells that resulted in the record number of oil and gas discoveries. Exploration activities registered around 80 percent increase as compared to four years of the previous government, they added.During the same period, the country is estimated to have consumed about 5.2 TCF gas which means that more than 100 percent replacement had been made for the resource consumed.
Answering a question, the sources said over $10 billion foreign investment had poured in the country’s petroleum sector since Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government came into power in 2013, despite low oil price scenario in international market.
