ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will face a major shortage of oil and gas, source of 80 percent of its energy needs, by 2010 unless its steps up exploration activity, a senior government official said on Monday.
At a projected annual economic growth of seven percent, Pakistan would face a shortage of about 20 million tonnes of oil equivalent in five years time, jumping to 100 million tonnes by 2025, said Ahmed Waqar, secretary to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.
"There is a need to meet this gap. Gas pipelines will be necessary in addition to indigenous production," Waqar told an oil and gas seminar in Islamabad.
Pakistan produces 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, which meets 50 percent of Pakistan's total energy needs.
Officials say it has four options -- gas pipelines from Qatar, Turkmenistan, or Iran, or the import of liquefied natural gas from Qatar -- to meet growing demand as well as a speeding up of domestic exploration.
They say Pakistan is trying to promote the use of cheaper natural gas and coal in the local industry to cut its oil import bill, which is expected to rise above $4.8 billion in the 2004/05 fiscal year to June 30.
Waqar said the government had set a target of drilling 100 exploratory wells this year from an average of 55 to 60 each year previously and planned a major roadshow in London on April 26-27 to attract investment in this effort.
"Pakistan has a huge potential and faster exploration will lead to more discoveries," he said.
Pakistan's proven oil reserves stand at 800 million barrels and scientifically estimated potential reserves of 27 billion barrels, the director general of the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, Hilal Raza, told reporters.
He said proven gas reserves stood at 45 trillion cubic feet and scientifically estimated reserves at 450 trillion cubic feet.
Waqar said the country would host a meeting of officials from Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on April 12-13 to discuss the technical feasibility of a proposed $3.3 billion gas pipeline.
The size of Turkmen gas reserves, gas storage and security issues were likely to be discussed at the meeting, he said.
Waqar added that he would also go to Qatar this month to talk about a pipeline and the possible import of liquefied natural gas from there.
The proposed 1,200-km (720-mile) pipeline from Qatar would take five years to build and cost an estimated $3.5 billion.
Analysts say the option of importing gas from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan appears difficult to implement in the near future given security problems in Pakistan's land-locked neighbour.
The plan for a pipeline from Iran also faces problems given US concerns about Iran's nuclear programmes.
Story by Tahir Ikram
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
