ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has plannedto start drilling activities in potential areas of Sindh in December thisyear for exploration of Shale gas and oil deposits identified almost fiveyears ago, which would also help determine the cost of fuel extraction.
“In pursuit of the Shale gas exploration, the company is working to drillthe first-ever unconventional Shale gas well in December at a fast track.Following which, the OGDCL Board and its management are also planning tocarry out back to back drilling at nine more Shale wells,” a seniorofficial privy to petroleum sector developments told APP.
A study completed in collaboration with the United States Agency forInternational Development, covering lower and middle Indus Basin, hadidentified massive Shale gas and oil reserves in 2015.
The report confirmed presence of 10,159 trillion cubic feet (TCF) Shale gasand 2,323 billion of stock tank barrels (BSTB) Shale oil in place resources.
After identification of the deposits, a task had been given to OGDCL andPakistan Petroleum Limited to undertake pilot project(s) in potential areasto assess the cost of extracting Shale gas and oil, delayed due to certainreasons.
According to the study, there are 188TCF gas and 58 BSTB oil technicallyrecoverable resources, while the risked technically recoverable resourcesstand at 95TCF gas and 14 BSTB oil.
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The study covered lower and middle Indus Basin, which geographicallyspreads over Sindh, southern parts of Punjab and eastern parts ofBalochistan. Total area under the study was 271,700km, which is 33 percentof 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 UnitedStates. Objectives of the study were to validate Shale gas resourceestimate, initial findings, assess availability of required technology andinfrastructure for Shale gas operations and formulate guidelines for theShale gas policy.
Following the reserves’ identification, a dedicated Shale gas and oilcentre had been established at the Petroleum House to facilitate interestedExploration and Production companies to exploit the potential.
