Pakistan had 22 oil, gas discoveries in 2 years

By an OGJ correspondent
KARACHI, Mar. 18 – Pakistan Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar said 59 onshore and offshore exploration wells were drilled in Pakistan since January 2008, resulting in 22 oil and gas discoveries.

Of these, 18 are under appraisal. The other four discoveries were initially appraised as having a reserve of 3.27 million bbl of oil and 404 bcf of gas.

Naveed Qamar said the government granted 126 licenses to different companies for exploration in Pakistan. Present production of crude is 66,390 b/d, which is processed at local refineries, he added.

To meet demand for petroleum products, Khlifa Coastal Oil refinery project with a capacity of 250,000 b/d and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd. refinery project with capacity of 115,000 b/d are proposed to be set up in the Balochistan province.