OGDCL, PPL fail to launch shale gas, oil pilot project

ISLAMABAD: The state-owned companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL), have failed to launch a pilot project to determine the cost of extracting Shale gas and oil after identification of massive reserves in the country due to technical reasons.

Last year, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources had assigned the task to the two state-owned companies to launch a pilot project in three to four months period, but no significant headway has been made in this regard.

A study completed in cooperation with the USAID confirmed presence of 10,159 trillion cubic feet (TCF) Shale gas and 2,323 billion of stock tank barrels (BSTB) Shale oil in place resources.

Following which the ministry directed the OGDCL and PPL to prepare a pilot project to launch in selected areas of Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa within the given time.

The project was scheduled to start in March this year, but it was delayed due to technical reasons. At present, there is no significant development on the project, sources aware of the project updates told APP on Thursday.

According to the study, there are 188TCF gas and 58BSTB oil technically recoverable resources, while the risked technically recoverable resources stand at 95TCF gas and 14BSTB oil.

The study covered lower and middle Indus Basin, which geographically spread over Sindh, southern parts of Punjab and eastern parts of Balochistan. Total area under the study was 271,700km, which is 33 percent of the total sedimentary area of the country.

During the study, a detailed analysis of 124 wells was carried out, including laboratory analysis on Shale cores and cuttings in the United States. Objectives of the study were to validate Shale gas resource estimate, initial findings, assess availability of required technology and infrastructure for Shale gas operations and formulate guidelines for the Shale gas policy.

The study further confirmed that the basic technology required for Shale gas exploration, ie, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing was available in the country and being used for conventional and tight gas reservoirs.