Running out of resources

After a long break, Pakistan has relaunched a programme for oil and gas exploration, exploitation and development activities, onshore and offshore, aiming at recovering the untapped indigenous hydrocarbon resources. Petroleum, a vital economic sector, is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports to meet the ever-growing demand based on growth in population and increasing urbanisation, and the issues of national security require prioritising the balanced energy supply-demand management. Total recoverable resources of crude oil and natural gas are depleting at alarming levels; the nation has consumed about 81 per cent of total oil reserves and above 69pc of cumulative gas reserves. Pakistan had proven oil resources of 1,245 million barrels, whereas 1,012m barrels were consumed as of June 30, 2022. Crude oil production during this period was 73,436 barrels per day (bpd), representing just 17pc of the country’s total yearly oil consumption. In other words, the remaining indigenous oil reserves of 233mn barrels will be exhausted totally within eight or nine years, given the present rate of production, in case discoveries of crude oil reserves are not made.