Daily Times

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar has said that Pakistan is taking tangible steps towards implementing key infrastructural reforms in the country’s Oil and Gas sector.

He made these remarks at Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition organized by Society of Petroleum Engineers , 2019 here on Tuesday. More than 30 oil and gas companies participated in exhibition and displayed their work for projection.

Mr Nadeem Babar highlighted salient aspects of Pakistan’s Energy mix stressing the need to undertake upgradation of all of the country’s refineries. He said that existing technology being utilized in the country’s refineries is obsolete rendering the current refining methods outdated. They may even be closed down entirely or phased out. The Government is working towards setting up two new refineries and ensuring upgradation of existing ones.

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum highlighted some positive trends that the country’s energy market will witness in the foreseeable future including awarding of around 35-40 Oil, Gas Exploration and Production blocks. Moreover, since local production of Gas is dwindling by 5%-7% annually, the Government would continue to import LNG to cater to local demand. Shale gas exploration activities would also commence by next month. He encouraged the private sector to join hands with the Government to further the agenda of energy security and prosperity of the country.