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Pakistan, a neighboring country that is struggling for debt, may soon become rich. The treasure he was searching for at the bottom of the sea for the past 3 years has now been found. According to Pakistani media, a large deposit of petroleum and natural gas has been found within the country’s maritime border.
Although it is not currently known how large this oil and gas deposit is, some estimates suggest that the discovery may be the fourth largest oil and gas deposit in the world. This is the reason why Pakistan’s fortunes are expected to change.
Dawn News TV recently quoted a senior official as saying that a three-year survey was conducted in the sea with the help of allies to locate oil and gas reserves. Pakistan came to know about the location of this oil reservoir through geo survey, after which the officials informed the government about it.
It may take years to take advantage of this treasure
Calling it an attempt to benefit from the blue water economy, the official said that oil and gas extraction work can be started there soon. However, he said drilling the wells and actually producing oil could take years.
However, this ‘blue water economy’ does not just provide oil and gas; Pakistan is expected to get many more valuable minerals from the sea. The official said that there is an urgent need to act on this, which can change the economic situation of the country.
The challenges are not less
However, despite this research, the challenges are not less. Former member of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Mohammad Arif has advised caution in this matter. They say that there is no guarantee of the results obtained from this research. He said that for the harness of oil and gas, a huge investment of about 5 billion dollars (about 1.4 lakh crore Pakistani rupees) will have to be made and it may take 5 years to extract it.
New hope in economic crisis
Pakistan’s economy is currently going through a serious crisis. The 2022 flood destroyed everything there and fears of a global economic recession also reduced the neighboring country’s growth rate to 1.7%. Loans taken from abroad have exceeded 126 billion dollars. High inflation, dwindling foreign reserves and mounting financial pressures have weakened the economy.
If the oil and gas reserves are properly utilized, it can reduce the current crisis of Pakistan to a great extent. In particular, the discovery of gas reserves could reduce the need for expensive LNG imports, while oil reserves could reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
