No Foreign Company Interested in Oil & Gas Exploration in Pakistan

International companies are avoiding Pakistan’s oil & gas sector following the unsuccessful drilling of the Kekra-1 well (near Karachi) in 2019. The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy learned that no company was interested in offshore oil and gas exploration in Pakistan. Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik explained that major global companies were exiting Pakistan because of the challenging business environment and untenable security costs. Malik briefed the committee that the security expenses in exploration areas were high, as companies had to protect their employees and assets. However, he mentioned ongoing discussions with two Chinese companies that were still interested in both onshore and offshore exploration. The committee was informed of 467 oil and gas discoveries in Pakistan to date. The petroleum minister emphasized increasing local exploration efforts due to depleting supplies and announced that a new oil and gas exploration policy was in the works to attract investment. Highlighting global trends, Malik pointed out that the global LNG supply was increasing, with Qatar planning to boost its supply by 33 percent next year. Petroleum Secretary Momin Agha provided an overview of the ministry’s functions, revealing that Pakistan consumes 4.2 billion cubic feet of gas daily, including one billion cubic feet of LNG. The gas sector faced a circular debt of Rs. 2,000 billion, with a subsidy of Rs. 130 billion given to small domestic gas consumers, which was then passed on to other users.