US companies express strong interest in Pakistan’s oil, gas, mineral sector.
Trump’s claim of massive oil reserves sparks debate among energy experts.
Pakistani officials cite 2013 shale oil estimates, analysts suggest lower reserves.
Declining foreign investment, outdated discoveries challenge Pakistan’s energy potential growth.
After US President Donald Trump’s comments regarding massive oil reserves, America’s senior most envoy to Pakistan has said that US companies are displaying ‘strong interest.
Last week, Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik met US Charge d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker in Islamabad to discuss about strengthening cooperation in the energy sector, the ministry said. Malik stated that talks with American companies on a round of bids for exploration blocks are already underway.
Baker said, as per a ministry, “There is a strong and growing interest from US companies in Pakistan’s oil, gas, and minerals sector, in line with the vision of President Trump.” She further noted, that the embassy would “actively facilitate direct linkages” between American and Pakistani companies.
The US embassy in Islamabad didn’t immediately elaborate on the comments.
Back in July, Trump sparked a surge of interest in Pakistan’s energy potential after a social media post in July claimed the country has “massive oil reserves” — a declaration surprised a number of industry veterans. The comment is at odds with existing estimates and comes against a backdrop of declining foreign investment.
This statement also coincides with the US president’s trade debacle with India. While talking about Pakistan’s oil potential, Trump was attacking New Delhi for buying crude from Russia, threatening economic penalties and souring diplomatic relations. The US president also said that Islamabad could sell oil to its neighbour “some day!”
It’s a “political statement,” Moin Raza Khan, an energy veteran and former chief executive officer of Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., told Bloomberg. He said, “If Pakistan had massive oil reserves” then so many foreign companies wouldn’t have left, he added.
Pakistani officials have cited a 2013 estimate from the Energy Information Administration that hints at finding 9.1 billion barrels of recoverable shale oil. However, analyst Iqbal Jawaid at Karachi Arif Habib Ltd. reckons overall reserves are much lower. He puts the figure to be around 238 million barrels.
That’s a very small number when the world’s biggest oil producers, like Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US, are sitting on billions of recoverable barrels, as per estimates from Rystad Energy. In terms of discoveries, it has been more than a decade since anything notable was found in Pakistan.
The two most recent big finds are now the nation’s two-largest oil-producing fields, said Karachi Arif’s Jawaid. Makori East was discovered in 2011 by a group that includes Hungary’s MOL Group, and Nashpa in 2009 by a venture led by Oil & Gas Development Co., the country’s biggest explorer.
