Islamabad: Study conducted with help of US Agency for International Development (USAID) states that Pakistan has more than 10,000 trillion shale gas reserves.

Ministry of Petroleum stated that the United States (US) agency conducted surveys in different areas of Pakistan and compiled a comprehensive report. The report shows that Pakistan has more than 10,159 trillion cubic ft gas while 2,323 billion barrels of oil reserves.

Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that industries all over the world are venturing in shale gas projects. However, Pakistan is abundant in the reserves.

The federal minister said that Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) have been given directives to hunt for shale hydrocarbon reserves in the country. However, cost of the product would be determined after taking into account the cost government would bear for hunt.

It is worth mentioning here that the world powers spend at least ten percent on exploration of shale gas. Abbasi said that the study began in January 2014 and completed in November this year. He said that the technology Pakistan has for hydrocarbon exploration could also be used for shale gas reserves.
However, he mentioned that technology still needs to be updated.

Zaid Muzaffar, Adviser to Ministry of Petroleum said that OGDC is working on a gas reserve already and hopes to get hands on shale gas and oil.

It should be mentioned here that shale gas reserves outweigh conventional hydrocarbon resources in Pakistan. Pakistan has at least 20 trillion cubic ft gas and 385 million oil reserves besides the
latest shale discovery.

Earlier in October while addressing a gathering about governments policy towards Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Abbasi had shun media reports of not maintaining transparency in gas import from Qatar.
There was no wrongdoing involved in the deal, he added.

He lauded Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for construction of LNG terminal at Karachi port.