Pakistan's Oil and Gas Sector Faces Crisis as Production Declines

Pakistan's oil and gas exploration sector has been facing significant challenges in recent years. Despite its strong foundation in the 1950s and 1960s, with early discoveries in Sui, Mari, and Badin laying the groundwork for domestic gas supply, the sector has struggled to keep pace with national requirements.

The country's dependence on imported energy has deepened, with gas production declining by 3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from an estimated demand of 5-6 bcfd. Oil production has also fallen from a peak of about 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2015 to around 70,000 bpd today.

The sector's failure to discover significant new reserves can be attributed to several factors, including mature basins, limited deep exploration, slow adoption of advanced technologies, and regulatory and pricing constraints. The country's inability to attract international oil majors has also hindered its ability to bring in the necessary capital, technology, and expertise.

However, there are steps that can be taken to revitalize the sector. Accelerating offshore exploration, pivoting towards deep and ultra-deep exploration, modernizing geological and reservoir modelling, enhancing collaboration with international oil companies, improving regulatory efficiency, focusing on enhanced recovery from existing fields, and building human capital and technical expertise are all key strategies that can help expedite the search for new oil and gas reserves.