Shale oil, gas exploration to begin in Sindh by year-end
OGDC will undertake pilot project keeping in view environmental standards
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) - a state-owned hydrocarbon exploration company - is set to begin drilling for shale oil and gas reserves in the Kunnar Pasakhi field in Hyderabad district in December this year.
“This will be a pilot project to be launched by the country’s largest oil and gas explorer,” an OGDC official said, adding that the company would press on with the project if all environmental and safety standards were met.
Earlier, OGDC was part of a consortium that searched for offshore oil and gas reserves in the Arabian Sea. Though the effort failed to yield any result, Pakistan was able to collect data on offshore hydrocarbon deposits in the country.
Now, the state-run company has planned to undertake the pilot project to tap shale oil and gas reserves.
Domestic natural gas production has been stagnant since the year 2000 and no new big discovery has been made since then. Pakistan has so far been banking on conventional oil and gas drilling but efforts to explore shale oil and gas are expected to give a boost to energy supplies. Kunnar Pasakhi is already producing oil and gas through conventional means.
Pakistan is ranked ninth in the world with respect to shale oil and gas potential. A study had been conducted by Weatherford for OGDC in 2018 to assess shale and tight gas reserves in the Indus Basin in Pakistan. Major formations of shale and tight gas were found in Talhar, Sembar, and Chiltan. The thickness of these shale reserves ranges from 1,000 feet to 3,000 feet and total organic content ranges from 1.5% to 2.5%.
According to the latest study, the shale gas potential in the Indus Basin is 1,000 trillion cubic feet over an area of 110,000 km. Tight gas potential in the Indus Basin is estimated at 400 trillion cubic feet and the best shale gas potential in the lower Indus Basin is estimated at 7.8 trillion cubic feet over an area of 146 km.
Shale gas is extracted directly from shale formations and since it has low permeability compared to conventional reserves, it does not come out easily and specific investment and pricing are required for its exploitation, experts say.
With the discovery of huge shale gas reserves, the US has become a gas-exporting country. The drilling of shale gas in Pakistan may be possible if a price of $12 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) is offered under the pilot programme, they say.
According to an official, exploration companies have already found some traces of shale gas during the search for conventional gas reserves as 10% to 12% of shale gas appears to be on upper faces of conventional gas.
According to a study conducted by a group of exploration and production companies, the cost of shale gas production will be economical at about 80% of Brent crude price, but this will have to be brought down to 70%.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2019.
Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) - a state-owned hydrocarbon exploration company - is set to begin drilling for shale oil and gas reserves in the Kunnar Pasakhi field in Hyderabad district in December this year.
“This will be a pilot project to be launched by the country’s largest oil and gas explorer,” an OGDC official said, adding that the company would press on with the project if all environmental and safety standards were met.
Earlier, OGDC was part of a consortium that searched for offshore oil and gas reserves in the Arabian Sea. Though the effort failed to yield any result, Pakistan was able to collect data on offshore hydrocarbon deposits in the country.
Now, the state-run company has planned to undertake the pilot project to tap shale oil and gas reserves.
Domestic natural gas production has been stagnant since the year 2000 and no new big discovery has been made since then. Pakistan has so far been banking on conventional oil and gas drilling but efforts to explore shale oil and gas are expected to give a boost to energy supplies. Kunnar Pasakhi is already producing oil and gas through conventional means.
Pakistan is ranked ninth in the world with respect to shale oil and gas potential. A study had been conducted by Weatherford for OGDC in 2018 to assess shale and tight gas reserves in the Indus Basin in Pakistan. Major formations of shale and tight gas were found in Talhar, Sembar, and Chiltan. The thickness of these shale reserves ranges from 1,000 feet to 3,000 feet and total organic content ranges from 1.5% to 2.5%.
According to the latest study, the shale gas potential in the Indus Basin is 1,000 trillion cubic feet over an area of 110,000 km. Tight gas potential in the Indus Basin is estimated at 400 trillion cubic feet and the best shale gas potential in the lower Indus Basin is estimated at 7.8 trillion cubic feet over an area of 146 km.
Shale gas is extracted directly from shale formations and since it has low permeability compared to conventional reserves, it does not come out easily and specific investment and pricing are required for its exploitation, experts say.
With the discovery of huge shale gas reserves, the US has become a gas-exporting country. The drilling of shale gas in Pakistan may be possible if a price of $12 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) is offered under the pilot programme, they say.
According to an official, exploration companies have already found some traces of shale gas during the search for conventional gas reserves as 10% to 12% of shale gas appears to be on upper faces of conventional gas.
According to a study conducted by a group of exploration and production companies, the cost of shale gas production will be economical at about 80% of Brent crude price, but this will have to be brought down to 70%.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2019.