SSGC: Pakistan's Estimated Gas Reserves Higher Than Expected

- SSGC: Pakistan's Estimated Gas Reserves Higher Than Expected

Monday, May 23, 2011
Asia Pulse Pte Ltd.

Pakistan holds an estimated 33 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of tight-gas reserves, higher than the existing estimated 27 tcf in the country, said the deputy managing director of operations of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Syed Hassan Nawab.

Nawab made the comment addressing the 7th International POGEE Conference 2011 for Oil and Gas and Energy Industry at the Karachi Expo Center on Wednesday. Joint Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources Raashid Bashir Maser was the chairman of the session.

Referring to a report of Pakistan Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association (PPEPCA), Nawab said the country will have sufficient natural gas if tight gas is explored with the help of advanced technology. He pointed out that the government has prepared the draft policy for tight gas and it is currently with the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and this will be approved soon.

Quoting some of the incentives in the draft tight gas policy, he said that investors will be offered 40 percent premium on the current gas price for exploring tight gas. Similarly, 50 percent premium will be offered on current gas price to investors if they commission their project by December 2011.

Hassan Nawab said that Pakistan can also produce gas from Thar coal with the help of underground coal gasification (UCG) technology. There is a potential to produce 35 tcf of coalbed methane from Thar coal, he noted.

He said that the availability of natural gas can be enhanced through import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from neighboring countries like Qatar and Iran-through 3rd party arrangements. He said the country has a very large network of pipelines and the importer of LNG can pump this gas to their buyers in upcountry destinations.

(C) 2011 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd.

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