Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources has said that a lot of improvement has already been achieved regarding gas shortages with the induction of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the system that would be further ramped up over the next few months.
The government has already resumed new gas connections to commercial consumers after a long time, he said.
“We have conveyed our approval to gas companies for new connections for housing schemes and they are in the process of finalising modalities for implementation,” he added.
Giving details, the minister said 68 discoveries out of total 101 have added proven reserves of about 5.4 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas while the results of the remaining 33 wells were yet to be confirmed.
During the same period, the country is estimated to have consumed about 5.2 TCF gas which meant more than 100 per cent replacement had been made for the resource consumed, he added.
Of all the 101 discoveries, Mr Abbasi said 87 were in Sindh and seven each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
Investment in exploration and production sector had declined by 40pc globally while we have been able to attract more of it, he said.
Pakistan has attracted about $10 billion worth of foreign investment in the exploration and development sector over the last four years which was also a record despite historically low global oil and gas prices, he added.