Hydrocarbon resources mapping up by 40% in four years

APP – Geological mapping of natural resources witnessed a remarkable increase of 40 percent during the last four years of the present government as compared to same period of the previous regime.

The government completed 2D and 3D seismic surveys of over 45,046 kilometer area to map existing potential of hydrocarbon resources in different parts of the country in a four- year period.

"The present government has so far completed over 25,568 L.km 2D and 19,478 Sq. km 3D surveys, which is around 40 percent higher than the seismic data acquired during the corresponding period of the previous government," official sources told APP.

They said the recent geological investigations had shown that around 185 billion tons of coal reserves existed in different parts of the country, which could be used as a primary and inexpensive source for power generation.

"More than 184 billion tons deposits are located in Sindh province, with Thar coal field being the largest followed by Thatta-Sonda, Lakhra and Jhimpir. The coal is lignite to lignite-A to sub bituminous B&C in character with an average heating value of 6,000 BTU/lb," they said.

Coal is primarily classified into four major categories, or 'ranks' like lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. One of the most valuable content of coal is its carbon content which supplies most of its heating value.

The sources informed that further investigations were being carried out to explore and evaluate coal deposits in Musakheil, Kingri and Toisar Basin, Musakhel district, Balochistan.

They admitted that the primary reason for not getting maximum benefit of the natural resources was the application of outdated technologies, poor management and inadequate capital besides security situation in some areas where the bulk of the mineral resources were located.

The mineral sector of Pakistan is spread over 600,000 square kilometer and 92 known minerals, while 52 are commercially exploited.