Pak OGDCL Plans Shale Exploration: Report

Oil and Gas development Company (OGDCL) will look to explore for shale oil and tight gas in Pakistan in partnership with foreign firms, The News reported May 7 citing a company official.

Qamar Javaid Shairf, chairman ODGCL’s board of directors said Pakistan’s geological formations are relatively “more challenging to dill but there is an opportunity to improve performance”.

"Time to drill a well with a depth of about 10,000 feet takes on average of about six months as compared to other countries where usually a similar well is drilled in four to six weeks,” Shairf said.

Pakistan has been working on exploiting its unconventional hydrocarbon resources to enhance domestic gas output. In 2017, Pakistan’s ministry of petroleum and natural resources established a shale gas and oil centre to facilitate companies in exploiting the unconventional hydrocarbon resources.

The south Asian nation has seen significant decline in locally produced gas in recent years. With shortage of gas, the government has relied on imported LNG to fill the demand gap. The country has two LNG import terminals at Port Qasim.

Although government has said that LNG will now be an important part of country’s energy mix, it has also been encouraging energy firms to explore for domestic gas resources.