November 07, 2023 (MLN): The government was making all-out efforts to make lives and businesses easier for people by providing them with imported LNG for energy, especially in the winter season, Muhammad Ali, the Caretaker Minister for Energy stated on Tuesday, as APP reported.

He was addressing the 29th edition of the Annual Technical Conference (ATC) jointly organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Pakistan Association of Petroleum Geo-scientists (PAPG).

Speaking on the occasion, he stated that this gathering of Geoscientists and Engineers with vast experience will enable a new thought horizon that may lead to new ideas in the exploration of indigenous oil and gas in the county.

He lauded the theme of the conference "Exploring the Unexplored: High-Risk Plays and Economic Challenges" stating that it is a pertinent focus area under the present circumstances.

The Minister was confident that this conference will provide wide opportunities to address current challenges and future strategy for the development of Energy Resources particularly in the area of oil & gas exploration.

He was of the view that Pakistan is blessed with a huge sedimentary basin, and national & multinational companies are pursuing exploration in various parts of the country.

Still, nearly 60-70% area is “unexplored" and needs to be evaluated for exploration of oil and gas to reduce the import of fuel.

The minister stated that they are trying to attract FDI in the field of oil and gas and expect that learnings from this technical conference and the efforts of the professionals and their links with professionals outside Pakistan will help foreign investors become interested in investing in Pakistan's Oil and gas Sector.

He went on to say that International Oil Companies (IOC) look at the assessment of "access" to the geography and technology, local communities' engagement, operational doability, security, and long-term sustainability of the business.

This is where the recent discoveries of Mari Petroleum and OGDCL will give confidence to the IOC on the technical and commercial success.

However, security continues to be a challenge and this requires special focus from the Government so that the professionals can focus on "exploring" and discovering hydrocarbons in "High-Risk" Plays.

Muhammad Ali said that the country is energy deficient and its challenge is how to cope with the situation in the present economic conditions.

Fossil fuel contributes about 70-80% to energy mix.

“It is very challenging to move away from the exploration of oil and gas in the world particularly in Pakistan. With the increase in global oil prices and the pressures on oil prices due to war and other factors is increasing the cost of importing energy more” he informed.

Locally, the minister said that oil and gas constitute about 70% of the energy mix and the challenge is how to meet the energy requirement of the country through indigenous resources as importing energy with the increasing import bill is becoming an economic challenge for the country.

He asked the participants to discuss technical, economic, and regulatory challenges to reduce the energy import bill during the next two days.

He expressed that it would be useful to hear the views of local and international experts on steps that may be taken to address these challenges.

“We are certain that this conference will be a good platform that will provide you with unlimited benefits and will open new plays for exploring the unexplored and addressing the economic challenges." he added.

Copyright Mettis Link News

Posted on: 2023-11-07T17:16:36+05:00