KARACHI: Betting on global economic recovery from the effect of the pandemic and subsequent rebound in the oil demand and price, the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) will continue to invest in the seismic data acquisition, processing/reprocessing of data and drilling campaigns, including commercial feasibility of shale gas, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) noted in its State of Industry Report.

“In order to diversify its portfolio risk, OGDCL will continue to seek viable farm-in and farm-out opportunities, as well as acquisition of concessions both in domestic and international markets,” the report noted.

During the fiscal year 2019/20, OGDCL acquired 3,407 line-km of 2D seismic data, representing 79 per cent of the total 2D seismic data acquisition in the country. Moreover, 25 wells were spud, including 15 exploratory/appraisal wells, five development wells and five re-entry/side track wells, whereas the total drilling recorded during the reporting period was 60,573 meters.

Among the spud-in wells, KUC-1 is the first-ever shale gas well drilled in the history of Pakistan with the aim to gather maximum information on the prospects of shale gas development, as well as to formulate shale gas drilling plans in the future.

The Ogra estimated that the gap in the demand and supply of natural gas is expected to reach 4.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) by FY2030-31 from 1.3bcfd in 2019/20.

The indigenous gas production fell 10 per cent to 2.13bcfd in the last fiscal year from 2.37bcfd a year ago, while the gas consumption declined 6 per cent to 3.71bcfd from 3.96bcfd during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority said the deficit between production and consumption was partially met through the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), whose share in the natural gas supplies increased to 29 per cent during 2019/20 from 27 per cent.

As per the report, the country’s transmission network is spread over 13,452km and the distribution network on 177,029km gas pipelines, providing natural gas to domestic, industrial, commercial and transport sectors.

During the period under review, the SNGPL and SSGC had collectively extended their transmission networks by 190km and 72km, respectively. The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited extended its distribution network by 5,731km and the Sui Southern Gas Company by 527km.

The SNGPL provided 271,228 new connections, which took the number of the total consumers on its network to 7 million, while SSGC added 95,011 new connections, making a total of 3.1 million consumers on its network.

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