Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) has established a facilitation center for exploration of shale gas and oil reserves identified in a study carried out in collaboration with the USAID. The center was established after a consortium of state-owned companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), is being formed to undertake pilot project(s) to assess the cost of extracting shale gas and oil after identification of their massive reserves in potential areas.
Sources said that the pilot projects are likely to be executed in selected areas of Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sources said that local and international exploration and production (E&P) companies have shown their interest in shale gas and oil reserves sector. A study, completed in collaboration with USAID, had confirmed presence of 3,778 trillion cubic feet (TCF) shale gas and 2,323 billions of stock tank barrels (BSTB) shale oil in place resources.
The study covered lower and middle Indus Basin, which is geographically spread over Sindh, southern parts of Punjab and eastern parts of Balochistan. Total area under the study was 271,700 kilometers, which is 33 percent of total sedimentary area of the country.