Claims of Pakistan having Asia’s largest oil and gas reserves are unsubstantiated
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
Pakistan is still exploring its potential oil and gas reserves, and it would be premature to conclude that it has the largest reserves in Asia
Reports that Pakistan will be inviting bids from companies to locate potential underwater oil and gas reserves have sparked claims that Pakistan now possesses the largest oil and gas reserves in Asia.
There is no evidence to support this claim, as of now.
Claim
“Breaking: Pakistan now officially has the largest oil and gas reserves in Asia,” wrote a user on X (Twitter) on September 12. The post has been viewed over 600,000 times and liked over 15,000 times to date.
Fact
Government officials and an industry expert confirm that as of now, Pakistan is still exploring its potential oil and gas reserves, and it would be premature to conclude that it has the largest reserves in Asia.
Captain (r) Shahbaz Tahir Nadeem, spokesperson for the petroleum division of the Ministry of energy, told Geo Fact Check over the phone that no such official statistics or statement has been released by their ministry to date.
Ahmed Hayat Lak, the managing director of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), a state-owned oil and gas company, told Geo Fact Check in a written reply that while there are indications that Pakistan potentially has hydrocarbon systems offshore, further exploration and drilling are needed to be sure.
“In order to arrive at a firm conclusion, we need to undertake additional 2D seismic surveys and, in certain areas, 3D seismic surveys, followed by drilling of wells,” he said. “Unless we embark on a comprehensive exploratory program and conclude as per industry standards, it would be premature to make any claim.”
Dr Javed Haneef, chairman of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, also termed the online claims as “wrong”.
It is important to note that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran, as per a 2024 report from the World Population Review.
Reference Link:- https://www.geo.tv/latest/567939-fact-check-claims-of-pakistan-having-asias-largest-oil-and-gas-reserves-are-unsubstantiated
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
