Pakistan moving towards self-reliance in crude production

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is moving fast towards achieving self-reliance in crude oil production after the government accelerated exploration of indigenous hydrocarbon resources over the last three years.

Capacity to produce crude oil and its indigenous refining is increasing gradually. Now the country has started moving on the path of achieving self-reliance in the sector, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources told APP on Monday.

He said crude oil production of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) had recently touched the highest level of 48,767 barrels/day (bpd). Despite a phenomenon of growth stagnation in crude oil production during the last five years, the company's production is likely to improve in the coming months after completion of the ongoing projects, he said.

Pakistan's total crude oil production is 85,000 bpd and OGDCL’s share is more than 57 percent, the official added. The crude oil production achieved by OGDCL has never been matched by any foreign or local E&P company operating in Pakistan, he said.

The Byco Petroleum Company had established the country's largest production unit having refining capacity of 120,000 bpd oil in Balochistan last year. The official said the country's oil refining capacity had dropped from 50 percent mark, which is not considered a good sign for the national economy.

Presently, as many as six oil refineries are operating in the country and they had full capacity to refine the product as per the needs of the country, he said. However, a lot of work is yet to be done in the exploration sector to achieve autarky, he added.

Currently, 70 percent of the current oil demand is met through import and the government has planned to set up more oil refineries in the coming days. Recently, the government, in a significant move to achieve self-reliance in the oil production sector, had given the task to Pakistan Arab Refinery Company (Parco) to complete the much-delayed multibillion dollar
Khalifa Coastal Oil Refinery project.

The coastal refinery will have the capacity to refine 250,000 bpd equal to 13 million tons of petroleum products per annum, he added. The oil and gas exploration companies operating in different parts of the country made 84 discoveries during the last three years. Following which around 631 million cubic feet/day (mmcfd) gas and 27,359 barrels/day (bpd) crude Oil production has been added to the system, the official added.