Oil and gas: Rs1.14b spent on research in eight years

Amount was provided to the Research and Development Division of OGDC, for conducting geological surveys.

ISLAMABAD:

The government has provided around Rs1.14 billion for research activity related to oil and gas exploration over the last eight years, a senior Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) official said on Tuesday.

This amount was provided to the Research and Development Division of OGDC, which is being utilised for conducting geological surveys and mapping projects in different exploration blocks, he said. Around 18 geological surveys have been conducted so far.

Answering a question, the official said the government was producing 24,267 barrels of oil per day from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Licences for 11 blocks have been granted for oil and gas exploration in the province, he said and added incentives would be provided to the investors for exploration.

Efforts are being made to put new discoveries into production during 2011-13, he added.

At present, he said, average daily natural gas production is 4,058 million cubic feet per day. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is producing about 8.89% of total gas volume of the country.

So far, 2.7 trillion cubic feet of original gas reserves have been explored in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th,  2011.