OGDCL begins drilling for shale gas in Hyderabad

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has started drilling activities in potential areas of Sindh for the exploration of shale gas, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to the spokesperson, on the initial stage, the OGDCL has planned to drill KUC-01 well in Hyderabad, in two phases.

The KUC-01 is an experimental pilot project which comprises a vertical or near vertical hole to be drilled down to top of Chiltan Formation. “The first well is planned to be drilled in vertical section and frac operations will be carried after reservoir evaluation.”

The study completed in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development, covering the lower and middle Indus Basin, had identified massive Shale gas and oil reserves in 2015.

“According to EIA Shale Gas Assessment Report 2015 (USA); Pakistan has around 105 Trillion Cubic Feet of recoverable shale gas and 9.1 billion Barrels of recoverable shale oil resources,” the state-run company said in a statement issued on November 25.

The successful exploitation of shale gas could provide Pakistan with a sustainable supply of natural gas and oil (against EIA estimated recoverable gas resources), it said, adding Pakistan’s estimated natural gas demand was about 7-8 Billion Cubic Feet per Day (BCFD), out of which less than 4 BCFD was being produced locally. “There is 50 percent of gas shortfall in the energy mix needs of the country”.

Earlier in June, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) announced that it had discovered oil and gas reservoir in district Sanghar of Sindh province.