The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources is spending Rs 587 million to accelerate oil and gas exploration activities in different parts of the country, official sources said.
“An amount of Rs 587 million has been allocated in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2016-17) for the four major ongoing Schemes aiming to step up natural resource exploration activities to achieve self-reliance in the energy sector.” Sources said.
They informed that the four projects approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP), were being executed at an estimated cost of Rs 935 million without any foreign financial assistance.
Under the programme sources said Rs 415 million had been allocated to acquire four drilling rigs and their accessories for the geological survey of Pakistan.
Specifically, Rs 131 million would be spent on appraisal of newly discovered coal resources in Badin and adjoining areas of Southern Sindh.
They said funds amounting to Rs 28 million would be utilized in exploration and evaluation of metals and minerals in Bela and Uthal areas of district Lasbella, Balochistan.
Similarly, Rs 11 million have been reserved for exploration of tertiary coal in the central Salt Range of Punjab.
Currently the country is facing a huge gap between demand and supply of energy where total gas production is four billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) against the demand of 8 bcfd of gas. Oil production stands around 10,000 barrels per day, while its requirement is seven to eight times of current production levels.
