Pakistan: OGDCL to begin large-scale shale gas drilling in Sindh
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has decided to begin large-scale drilling operations following the discovery of significant shale gas reserves in Sindh, the company’s managing director said.
Speaking in an interview, OGDCL Managing Director Ahmed Hayat Lak said the presence of substantial shale gas reserves has been confirmed in Hyderabad and Sanghar districts after the successful drilling of a vertical well. He added that a pilot project to assess the commercial viability of the reserves has also proved successful.
According to the initial assessment, the shale gas reserves in Sindh are estimated at 7.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
Ahmed Hayat Lak said a rig has already been installed for horizontal drilling, which is the next phase of the development process. Once this stage is completed in the coming months, drilling will begin at another site.
He said large-scale drilling operations will commence after the successful development of both wells.
The OGDCL chief expressed confidence that the use of modern drilling technology would significantly increase the company’s production, potentially taking it to the highest level in the country’s history.
He further said the company’s reserve replacement ratio has remained at 160 percent, indicating strong prospects for future growth in Pakistan’s energy resources.
Reference Link:- https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Jul-2026/ogdcl-begin-large-scale-shale-gas-drilling-sindh
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.…
