Govt seeks US help for, Shale oil, gas exploration
Khalid MustafaSaturday, November 09, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad intends to seek from help from the US for the exploration of gas reserves, as well as credit lines for the construction of the Diamer-Basha dam, top officials of the ministries of petroleum and natural resources told The News.
The officials said that technical help is being sought for reliable oil and gas reserves assessment along with technology and expertise to exploit shale gas reserves. Pakistan is also to seek cooperation in installing the coal based power projects, funding for improving the transmission system and improving the efficiency of the Gencos and Discos.
Aid is also being sought to fund the $ 1.4 billion 1250 kilometers long pipeline from Karachi to Lahore, as well as the participation of
US companies in the Joint Ventures with public sector entities to accelerate the exploration and production activities in Pakistan.
According to EIA (Energy Information Administration) — American federal authority on energy statistics and analysis,
Pakistan is estimated to have fresh recoverable shale gas reserves of 105 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and more than nine billion barrels of oil in Pakistan.
These estimates of recoverable hydrocarbon reserves are many times larger than so far proven reserves of 24 TCF for gas and about 300 million barrels for oil. Pakistan currently produces about 4.2 billion cubic feet of gas and about 70,000 barrels of oil per day.
“
Shale gas had seen tremendous developments in the United States and a couple of other countries were trying to use the latest technology.
Pakistan was also encouraging exploration and production companies to venture into these fresh horizon,” the officials said
A high level delegation headed by Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Mr Shahid Khaqan Abbasi comprising managing directors of OGDCL, PPL, PSO, Sui Southern and Sui Northern will hold the talks with US authorities in Washington and Houston from November 12th on cooperation in energy sector. Another delegation of energy officials led by Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Asif will also travel to Washington for similar discussions.
Pakistan also wants to lay a separate gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore which will carry imported LNG to cater to the country’s dire energy needs. The LNG will first be transformed into natural gas then it will be transported to Punjab through the said pipeline.
The existing gas infrastructure has the capacity to carry additional 250 mmcfd under swap arrangements. Therefore the government plans to import 2 billion cubic feet of LNG per day in the next two and a half years, with 200-400 mmcfd to arrive by November 1, 2014.
US help is also sought in installing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to curtail the volume of unaccounted for gas (UFG) and also to help in providing precious details about gas pressure at the point where meters will be installed.
In Sui Southern, one percent UFG has been curtailed to 9.9 from 10.9 percent which means Rs 1.2 billion has been saved. However, UFG stands at the higher side in the system of Sui Northern at over 11 percent. One percent UFG in Sui Northern system means the loss of Rs 2 billion.
In addition, the government will also seek the technical know from US in the ongoing rehabilitation of the gas infrastructure being carried out in the wake of the gas leakage survey in the Sui southern system. That’s likely to come to about $ 20 million.
“We will also seek the US expertise in discovery the huge resources of shale gas, tide gas and coal bed methane in Pakistan,” the official said and added saying that US companies are 40 year ahead of any developing country’s companies in terms of service delivery and expertise in discovery of shale gas and other minerals.
He said that OGDCL and PPL will seek the US companies in joint ventures for exploring gas both in onshore and off shore fields.
Govt seeks US help for Basha, shale gas exploration - thenews.com.pk