Does Pakistan have enough oil deposits to lure US investment?
advertisementDespite efforts, Pakistan's domestic oil production has been on the decline. Data shows it produced 89030 barrels of crude oil per day in 2019, which is projected to decline to 64262 barrels per day in 2025.BASIS OF TRUMP'S MOVEPresident Trump's announcement to develop 'massive oil reserves' appears to be based on two claims. The first one is based on a joint study between Pakistan's Ministry of Energy and the now-defunct United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2020. The study found:Free gas in-place: 3778 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF)Technically recoverable free gas: 188 TCFRisked recoverable free gas: 95 TCFShale oil in-place: 2323 barrels per stock tank barrel (BSTB)Technically recoverable oil: 58 BSTBRisked recoverable oil: 14 BSTB
Let's break down these technical terms. 'In-place' refers to the understanding of the total amount of oil sitting inside shale rocks underground, 'technically recoverable' refers to the amount of gas and oil that can be theoretically extracted. 'Risked recoverable' is the most realistic assessment.Another claim of the discovery of 'massive reserves' in Pakistan's territorial waters was published in Pakistani media in September 2024. A 'senior security official' told Pakistani media that the assessment was based on 3D seismic mapping – the first step in oil exploration.
In 2019, American oil firm ExxonMobil drilled an offshore well, named Kekra-1, but couldn't extract any oil or gas, as per the company's annual report. ExxonMobil has returned to Pakistan after nearly a decade after surveys suggested the possibility of big oil reserves within Pakistani waters.'ExxonMobil, ENI, PPL [Pakistan Petroleum Limited], and OGDC [Oil & Gas Development Company Limited] were conducting the drill at Kekra-1. More than 5,500-metre-deep drilling was conducted, but oil and gas reserves were not found. The drilling work has now been abandoned,' DawnNewsTV quoted an official as saying.
Caption: Most of the oil reserve sites fall in Balochistan, where an ethnic insurgency remains a security threat.)In consecutive energy outlooks, the Petroleum Institute of Pakistan (PIP), which represents all segments of the petroleum industry, has lamented the depleting oil and gas reserves. In its 200 energy outlook, the institute said Pakistan was facing issues such as old infrastructure, depleting indigenous resources and an increasing dependence on imports.OIL COMPANIES SAY GOODBYEFour major oil and gas companies have announced exits from Pakistan between 2021 and 2024. While Italy's ENI bid adieu in 2021 after two decades, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company sold its assets in multiple blocks to Pakistan Exploration Limited (PEL) in late 2024.Shell sold its majority stake in Shell Pakistan in 2023 and TotalEnergies announced its Pakistan exit in late 2024.- EndsTune InMust Watch
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