Minister pours cold water on Pakistan oil discovery reports

KARACHI: Reports that Pakistan was about to discover huge oil reserves  recently made headlines fueling hopes that the country would  overcome economic crisis within the next few years once the oil is produced.

The report was attributed to caretaker federal minister Abdullah Hussain Haroon who reportedly said  Exxon Mobil, an American oil company, was close to finding huge oil reserves in Pakistan.

Some reports went on to say that the oil  reserves would put Pakistan ahead of Qatar in oil production.

The excitement and the hopes  were short-lived as the minister issued a clarification to a leading English daily saying the drilling is yet to start.

`ExxonMobil has purchased a block of Pakistani deep sea drilling off the Indus Delta for exploration. Their drilling is yet to start as depths are very intense, but they are very hopeful of success in discovering a big cache of oil," he was quoted as saying.