Pakistanis are now facing dai­ly stoppage of natural gas to homes and factories, while new Sui gas connections have been banned for many years. The Government claims that there are no gas re­sources available and has resorted to importing RLNG from Qatar.

The Government’s claim is be­lievable until we see the NASA Methane gas observation Satellite report where Pakistan is named as one of the top Methane producers in the World. According to this re­port, Pakistan has many Methane gas leakages from the ground. Simi­larly, a US Aid survey in 2010 found that Pakistan had the World’s 7th highest gas reserves.

But if Pakistan does have the re­sources, why are we not using them? It’s because the resource is stuck underground and has to be drilled and piped. Most of the areas of Pakistan have already been allot­ted to OGDCL and PPL, two Govern­ment-owned oil and gas companies. However, Pakistan only has 8 drill­ing rigs operational, which is not enough to find gas quickly enough.

Many International oil and gas companies are willing to bring their rigs to Pakistan on partner­ship or lease, while also providing training to local youth. Each new rig operating in Pakistan will pro­vide many skilled and unskilled jobs, while its operation will in­crease Pakistan’s chance of finding new sources of oil and gas.

While the Oil and Gas sector is looked after by a specialized Min­istry and other specialized Govern­ment organizations, for some rea­son, these highly paid officials are not interested in increasing oil and gas activities in Pakistan.

Therefore, I request the me­dia that each time the government makes a new announcement about a new memorandum of under­standing signed in the oil and gas sector, the media should ask them how they will increase oil and gas exploration and production activi­ties in Pakistan. This will push the Government and these organiza­tions to increase oil drilling rigs, and we Pakistanis will be able to en­joy natural gas in our homes 24/7.

SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER P.ENGR.,

Peshawar.