Pakistan is a gas prone country. 48% of our energy mix requirement is met through indigenous gas supply. Currently, the country is producing 4.16 BCFD gas which is not sufficient to meet the ever increasing demand for natural gas in the country. Presently, there is a gap of around 2 BCF gas between the indigenous supply & constraint demand. In order to bridge the gap, the government is making all out efforts to enhance the gas availability in the country. For this purpose the government has adopted three prong strategy: (i) Import of gas through transnational pipelines, (ii) Import of LNG & (iii) to enhancement of indigenous gas supplies through extensive exploration activities. For this purpose government is not only focusing on conventional gas but has also provided incentives to discover & exploit Unconventional Gas Resources like Marginal Gas, Tight Gas & Shale Gas.
US Energy Information Administration (USEIA) in April 2011 reported presence of 206 TCF Shale Gas in Place Resource in Lower Indus Basin out of which 51 TCF were technically recoverable. However, in June 2013, USEIA revised Shale Gas resource in Pakistan as 586 TCF in place out of which 105 TCF were tipped as risked technically recoverable and also included 9.1 Billion Barrel Shale Oil risked technically recoverable resource out of 227 Billion Barrel Shale Oil in place. To authenticate Shale Gas Resources in the country, Shale Gas Study with financial support from USAID was initiated in January 2014. The objectives of the study were to (i) validate Shale Gas Resource estimate of USEIA, (ii) assess availability of required technology & infrastructure for Shale Gas operations and (iii) formulate guidelines for Shale Gas Policy. The study has been completed in November 2015 with a total cost of US $ 2.2 MM. The study covered Lower & Middle Indus basin which geographically spread over Sind and southern part of Punjab & eastern part of Baluchistan province. Total area under the study was 271,700 km2, which is 33% of total sedimentary area of Pakistan. Under the said work program, detailed analysis of One Hundred Twenty Four (124) wells were carried out including laboratory analysis on Shale Cores and Cuttings in USA. The study has confirmed presence of substantial Shale Gas and Shale Oil as under:
In Place Resource:
· Free Gas (TCF) 3,778
· Adsorbed Gas (TCF) 6,381
· Total Gas (TCF) 10,159
· Oil (BSTB) 2,323
Technically Recoverable Resource:
· Free Gas (TCF) 188
· Oil (BSTB) 58
Risked Technically Recoverable Resource:
· Free Gas (TCF) 95
· Oil (BSTB) 14
The study has further confirmed that basic technology required for Shale
Gas Exploration i.e., horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is
available in the country and is being used for Conventional and Tight
Gas Reservoirs. This will help in launching Pilot Projects. However,
this needs to be scaled up for large scale shale operations in the
coming days. It is also pertinent to mention that the Shale Gas is a new
phenomena worldwide and so far, only US Shales have been proved as
commercially viable. Shale Gas Exploration and Production is capital
extensive about 10 times higher than Conventional oil and gas.
Due to the untiring efforts of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources and especially by the DGPC and his team and keen interest generated by the investment friendly and attractive policies. After taking all provinces on board in finalizing Model Petroleum Concession Agreement (MPCA) and Model Exploration Licence (MPCA), the current government has so far awarded 46 new petroleum exploration licenses which is a record performance in the history of Pakistan. For the first time government has fulfilled its commitment and has so far processed 94 applications for conversion to the new petroleum policy 2012 through execution of Supplemental Agreements. During the current tenure of this government, record 227 wells have been drilled which resulted in 65 new oil and gas discoveries, around 560 MMCFD of additional gas and 27,000 BOPD of oil has been injected in the system so far. By virtue of these discoveries, so far over one TCF of gas and 16 Million of barrels of new oil reserves have been added. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, domestic oil production has touched the highest level of 100,698 bbl per day of oil on 07.12.2014.
The aforesaid performance is the result of effective monitoring of E&P activities in accordance with the work commitments. In order to expedite processing of various cases of E&P companies and to bring more transparency in the system, , Rules have been amended, economic model and petroleum reserve model and comprehensive SOPs have also been developed.
Moreover, the Government has also initiated actions against the non-performing E&P companies including those who were holding licenses for the last so many years without any physical activity. It is expected that this action will act as a wakeup call for non-performing E&P companies and will boost up the exploration and production activities in the country. As a result of above action 10 exploration licenses have been revoked after allowing adequate opportunities to the companies to remedy the defaults and after completing the necessary regulatory process. In addition 15 Notices have also been issued to defaulting companies which are under process as per applicable rules.
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