PGNIG Interested in Developing Pakistani Shale Resources

Polish PGNiG is interested in developing shale gas resources in Pakistan and increasing its footprint in the overall upstream oil and gas segment, PGNiG CEO Piotr Wozniak (pictured below) told state owned Associated Press of Pakistan on the twentieth anniversary of the company’s presence in the south Asian nation.

Pakistan has substantial shale gas and oil reserves but they are mostly unexplored. In a report published by US Energy Information Agency in 2015 based on the study of shale resources in Pakistan’s Indus Basin, the EIA said that the country had 105 trillion ft³ of technically recoverable shale gas.

(Credit: PGNiG)

PGNiG, whose shale gas exploration on its home turf has been fruitless, has invested about $125mn in Pakistan till now and plans to drill 14 more oil and gas exploration wells in areas with hydrocarbon production potential, he said. The company’s gas production in Pakistan is now above 0.5mn m³/d.

Last week, Wozniak told the state news agency that the company is considering setting up an LNG trading office in Pakistan, given the rising demand for the fuel in the country. LNG is becoming an important part of Pakistan’s economy which is heavily dependent on gas. It imported 2.95mn mt of LNG in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 181%, according to the latest annual report of the International LNG Importers Group (GIIGNL); 72% of its 2016 imports came from Qatar.

Recently, Pakistan LNG awarded a contract to Italian Eni to supply a cargo per month during the next 15 years, for a total of 180 cargoes, corresponding to 11mn metric tons of LNG.

Shardul Sharma