Pakistan has discovered significant gas reserves approximated at 351.2 billion cubic feet in the Shewa fields of north Waziristan, with an anticipated lifespan of 17 years. The country is ready to introduce 70 million cubic feet per day from the Shewa to well into the national grid, increasing domestic gas production by over 3% daily. This raise will minimize the requirement for expensive fuel imports and preserve hundreds of thousands of US dollars in foreign exchange reserves.
As per Mary Petroleum’s annual report 2024, unleashed on Tuesday, the Exploration and Production Organization is ready to connect some 70 mm CFD of gas from Shewa into the system through a pipeline recently established by Sui-Northern Gas Pipeline Limited, SNGPL. Top-line research analyst Sunny Kumar acknowledged that the hydro testing of the pipeline is under process.
The project has encountered various delays due to various security concerns, but the pipeline was finished in August 2024. The injection of gas into the grid wall is anticipated to start after the commissioning of the early production facilities, EPF, and subsequent ramp-up. Mary Petroleum’s report claimed that this move is about to increase indigenous gas supply to over 3%, improving production capacity and expanding the production portfolio of the organization, leading to substantial revenue generation.
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Kumar highlighted that Shewa’s gas reserves as of June 2024 are expected to be at 351.2 BCF with a production lifespan of roughly 14 years at the rate of 70 mm CFD. After the development, Mary Petroleum’s share price increased by 1.93%, closing at Rs. 3,510.73 per share with a trading volume of 125,759 shares on the Pakistan Stock Exchange PSE. Mary Petroleum operates the Waziristan block with a 55% working interest. However, the oil and gas development company OGDC and OEM Petroleum INCOPI hold at least 35% and 10% interest, respectively, as claimed by Kumar.
The annualized impact on Mary Petroleum is anticipated to be Rs. 60 to 65 per share, while OGDC’s share is anticipated to see an impact of Rs. 1.2 as per oil and gas price exceptions of $80 per barrel and $5.9 to $6.0 per mm BTU, million British thermal units.
Several Appraisal and exploration wells have been planned out in the Waziristan blocks to optimize its hydrocarbon capacity. Among these, the Spinwam-1 exploratory well was spudded on 28 May 2024, with drilling anticipated to be finalized by the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-2025. Recent data claims that the crude oil of Pakistan’s gas reserves has turned around, with crude oil reserves massively increasing by 26% and gas reserves by 2% as of June 30, 2024. This has reversed a long-standing trend of depletion, widening the lifespan of the oil and gas reserves of the country to 10 and 17 years, respectively.
Maritime Petroleum and OGDC have played vital in this development, with the oil reserves of Maritime Petroleum doubling since 2023, alongside healthy growth in gas reserves. Revisions and modifications to the 2012 Petroleum Policy and the launch of a new Tight Gas Policy are anticipated to further incentivize exploration and development, improving operational efficiency and resource recovery. As Pakistan continues to tackle the challenges of energy production and reserves management, these developments are considered to offer a cautiously optimistic outlook for the energy sector, specifically for industry leaders like Maritime Petroleum and OGDC, claimed in the report.