| Shale gas and oil both are promising and potential sources of energy in
the world. A recent report by U.S. EIA (2013) revealed that Pakistan is
among the top ten countries in the world that have technically recoverable
shale oil resources of nearly 9 billion barrels. In case of shale gas, the
technically recoverable resources are around 105 trillion cubic feet. Many
analysts at global level consider this shale oil and gas potential as
‘game-changer’ in international energy industry.
In the same spirit, this study provides analytical
review and discussion on shale oil and gas, its technical feasibility, economic
viability and environmental sustainability. Further, it discusses the impact of
shale oil and gas exploration activities on natural resources like water and
communities at national level in comparison to regional development.
For Pakistan
‘gas shortage reached 1000-15000 million standard
cubic feet per day (MMSCFD)’ in 2012 (Khawaja 2013) and the country is facing 80 million tonnes of
oil shortage per annum. Oil is imported from Saudi
Arabia, United Arab
Emirates and Kuwait to overcome oil requirements.
Pakistan State Oil alone imports 3.4 million tonnes of diesel and 4 million
tonnes of furnace oil (PSO 2005). While considering these aspects related to
import of traditional oil, this study explores major technical and capacity
constraints to domestic supplies of indigenously available shale oil and gas
resources to improve the energy mix and
its impact on economic growth and societal changes like creation of new jobs in
Pakistan.
It also provides a brief overview on the policy/strategy, key investment issues
(public and private partnership) for the development of shale oil and gas.
References
Khawaja, A.S. 2013,
‘Geopolitical and Economic Imperatives of IP and TAPI Gas Pipelines’, Presentation
at Geopolitical and Economic Imperatives of IP and TAPI Gas Pipelines
Conference, organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institute, 18 April, pp. 1-8
. http://ipripak.org/conf/gpei.pdf
PSO 2005, ‘Bio-diesel
Initiative: A Step towards a Cleaner and Self Sufficient Pakistan’, Pakistan
State Oil, Karachi, Pakistan,
<http://www.psopk.com/products_services/pdf/bio_diesel.pdf>,
accessed 1 November 2013.
U.S.
EIA 2013, ‘Technically Recoverable Shale Oil and Shale Gas Resources: An
Assessment of 137 Shale Formations in 41Countries Outside the United
States’, June, U.S. Energy
Information Administration, Washington,
D.C.,
<http://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/worldshalegas/pdf/overview.pdf?zscb=32253481>,
accessed 1 November 2013.
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