US to Help Pakistan Assess Shale Reserves

The United States has offered to help Pakistan assess its shale oil and gas reserves, reported Express Tribune, a local English daily.

This is the second time the US will take up such an exercise. US Agency for International Development (USAID) previously undertook such a study but did not cover some areas of Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistan has accepted the offer for the second study for which the US will bear the entire cost, the newspaper reported on Sunday.

After conclusion of the first study, USAID said Pakistan’s estimated shale gas resources were 10,159 trillion cubic feet while shale oil deposits were 2.3 trillion barrels. These estimates were several times higher than those released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The USAID further revealed that risked technically recoverable resources were 95 trillion cubic feet of shale gas and 14 billion barrels of shale oil, Express Tribune reported. According to EIA assessment in April 2011, Pakistan had 206 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the lower Indus Basin, of which 51 trillion cubic feet were recoverable. However, in June 2013, it revised the estimate upwards to 586 trillion cubic feet, of which 105 trillion cubic feet were technically recoverable.

The government will frame a policy for shale deposits after the cost of drilling is determined and the second study is conducted, the report stated.