It is well known that the country have abundant oil and gas reserves that need to be conserved and maintain to use well but it is not being worked on in the way it needs to be. It has recently been revealed that new oil and gas deposits were discovered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while oil and gas production was restored at 8 wells in Kunar in Sindh.
It should be remembered that large reserves of oil and gas have been found in the Chandna Seven well in the district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to reports in a letter sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange by the Oil and Gas Development Company, it was stated that 305 barrels of crude oil per day have been found in the Chandna well Kohat. 2.5 million cubic ton gas reserves have also been found from the Chandna well while 3 metric ton LPG will also be obtained from the well. Rendering to the text of the letter, the well has been connected to the plant through a 1.3 km flowline and the quantity of gas obtained from the new reservoir has also started to be supplied to the Sui Northern Gas Company.
The letter further states that there was another important development in Hyderabad district of Sindh. The production of 540 barrels of crude oil per day has started with the installation of modern pumps at Kunar 8 wells in Sindh. On the one hand, the discovery of new oil and gas reserves in Pakistan, on the other hand a large reduction in the prices of petroleum products in the global market will reduce the burden of expensive gasoline on Pakistanis.
The price of American crude oil has been reduced by 3.65%, which is selling at 74.18 dollars per barrel. The price of British crude oil has been reduced by 3.43% and is being sold per 78.28 barrel. According to foreign media the price of British crude oil has fallen below 80 dollars per barrel for the first time since February 2024. It should be noted that the government has reduced the price of petrol by 4 rupees 74 paisa per liter from June 1, after which the new price of petrol has become 268 rupees 36 paisa per liter. According to the notification, the price of diesel is 3 rupees 86 paisa. After the reduction, the new price of diesel was fixed at Rs 270 22 paisa per litre.
If Pakistan continues to benefit from these sources, the time is not far when we can meet many of our needs locally. If work is accelerated to find oil and gas reserves in the country many energy problems can be solved in the future. It should be remembered that the oil and gas exploration sector of Pakistan received a big blow in 2019 when the offshore well of Kectra 1 was damaged. The international consortium started drilling the well at the site agreeing to the claims of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan but in the latest revelation the National Assembly Standing Committee on Energy was told that no company would be interested in oil and gas exploration activities besides the major drivers of this sector are leaving the country.
Last year Shell, a major oil and gas company decided to sell its shares and exit Pakistan. A number of problems plague the sector due to which successive governments have failed to address the root causes. With Pakistan’s economy on the IMF’s ventilator the lack of economic vision compounds the problems that such organizations face when operating here.
During the latest meeting of the Standing Committee the members were informed that a new oil and gas exploration policy is being worked on to make investment attractive in Pakistan with no timeline given for the formulation and implementation of the policy.
With such ambiguity it makes sense to entrepreneurs that no new actor is planning to invest in the sector. Security is also another major obstacle as there are a large number of new wells and reserves in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A major portion of the country’s import bill consists of energy imports.
The government needs to take concrete steps to make exploration activities more favorable to international companies and increase domestic production. A new policy should be implemented as soon as possible if we want to stimulate the domestic oil and gas sector.
