The south-west corner of Pakistan spreads out to the Middle East, the region of major oil producing countries, and it is strongly believed that the country has huge oil and gas reserves which needed to be fully explored. After discovery of gas reserves in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and parts of Punjab, there is no doubt that the land is full of natural resources and it needs big investment to launch a full-fledged exploration campaign.
There are several countries which are willing to invest in oil and gas sector in Pakistan, especially China which is ready to invest $30 billion in Balochitan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Big oil reserves are also expected along the coastline in Makran division and Pakistan could have more oil than Iran and Gulf States keeping in view the country’s geographical location which has low altitude than the Gulf emirates.
The federal petroleum ministry is trying to persuade foreign companies to ink at least 200 agreements to dig out 300 wells. According to newspaper reports, the petroleum ministry has signed 44 agreements with foreign investors which have dug out 116 new wells. New oil and gas reservoirs have been discovered at dozens of new points and it is expected that the new discoveries will help overcome energy crisis in Pakistan. The Pakistan Petroleum Limited has recently discovered a huge gas reservoir in Sanghar area of Sindh to get 40 mmcf gas and 200 barrel oil per day.
On another note, the Oil and Gas Development Company has also discovered new oil and gas reservoirs near Hyderabad from where 10.04 mmcfgas and 125 barrel oil will be acquired per day. Gas has also been discovered in Attock from where 10.7 mm cf gas and 200 barrel per day oil will be acquired. The Oil and Gas Development Company is expected to invest Rs 85 billion in new exploration projects in four years.
There are two major obstacles in Pakistan which keep the foreign investment at bay. The number one issue is security and number two is political instability. If all the stakeholders in the country join hands in the interest of the nation, no one can stop Pakistan from becoming an Asian tiger. Until now, every political movement, which had been started in the name of the people’s rights and civil liberties, ended in fiasco.
