Pakistan: Oil & gas production registers increase

KARACHI (July 19 2007): Pakistan’s Oil and Gas production increased by 1.7 and 1.3 percent respectively during July-March period of fiscal 2006/07. An Economic Survey report said the average crude oil production in the review period was 66,485 barrels per day (bpd) against 65,385 bpd in the corresponding months a year ago.

Similarly, the average daily production of natural gas increased to 3876 mcf, compared with 3835 mcf during the same period last year.

The country’s remaining recoverable oil and gas reserves have been estimated at 318 million barrels and 32 trillion cubic feet respectively. The importance of natural gas to the country has been increasing rapidly and is used domestically and also in various important industries including power and cement sectors. Its use as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the transport sector and manufacturing of fertiliser is also vitally important and on the rise.

The Survey said the government is encouraging the use of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) to slow down deforestation in the areas where natural gas supply through pipes was not feasible. It said the production of LPG in the last six years has seen almost four-fold increase to 1650 tonnes per day in 2006-07. The government is also promoting the use of CNG as a cost-effective, environment-friendly fuel. Over 1400 CNG stations were operational in 85 cities till April 2007 and 1.35 million vehicles were running on CNG.

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