Shale oil, gas can reduce trade deficit to zero:PEW

Lahore: The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Thursday said shale oil and gas is the only option to revolutionise the energy sector of Pakistan settling energy crisis forever.

Pakistan has estimated reserves of 105 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of shale gas enough to meet all the demand for next 45 years while 9.1 billion barrels of shale oil can satisfy country’s demand for next 61 years resulting in zero trade deficit.

Recently formulated Shale Oil and Gas Regulatory Framework is not strengthen enough to bring desired results therefore it must be beefed up immediately, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

Shale oil and gas should be high on the government’s agenda as it will reduce burden on national exchequer and its impact on environment would not be as bad as that of coal.

Dr  Murtaza Mughal said that Pakistan should learn from the mistakes of China, Poland and other countries that lost substantial amount due to wrong planning.

He said that tax exemptions and incentives will attract investment in this sector which has the potential revolutionise energy mix while providing hundreds of thousands of jobs for skilled and unskilled workers.

Last year the US Energy Information Administration estimated fresh recoverable shale gas reserves of 105 TCF and more than nine billion barrels of oil in Pakistan but it lacked sufficient details necessitating urgent detailed assessment of upper, middle, lower Indus, Baluchistan and offshore basins, said Dr. Mughal.