ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has announced the discovery of significant oil and gas reserves in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, terming it the largest find in the sector so far this year.
In a notice submitted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), OGDCL confirmed the find as the biggest in the country’s oil and gas exploration industry so far this year, marking an important milestone, poised to bolster domestic energy resources.
Over the past few years, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has emerged as a focal point for new reserves. In Karak district, Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) recently reported daily flows of 22.1 million cubic feet of gas and 2,112 barrels of crude oil from the Makori Deep-02 well. Similarly, the Nashpa block in Kohat has yielded commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in earlier drilling campaigns. OGDCL, which holds a 65 per cent stake in the latest Kohat discovery alongside Pakistan Petroleum Limited (30pc) and Government Holdings (5pc), described the find as a “major boost” to domestic exploration efforts.
However, despite the optimism, Pakistan’s energy import dependence remains overwhelming. According to official trade data, the country’s oil import bill reached $9.46 billion in the first seven months of FY25, compared to $9.33bn in the same period last year. Crude oil imports alone rose nearly five per cent, with volumes climbing 18.2pc to 5.78 million tonnes.
Analysts are of the opinion that while discoveries in KP are encouraging, they are unlikely to provide immediate relief to the economy, because although these wells add incremental production, but Pakistan imports nearly 80 per cent of its fuel needs, and hence, the scale of demand far outpaces local supplies.
“Several structural factors explain the disconnect. First, the time lag between discovery and commercial production means new wells cannot offset import requirements in the short term. Second, many finds are gas-heavy, while Pakistan’s largest import burden is crude oil and refined petroleum. Third, rising global oil prices and the rupee’s depreciation continue to inflate the import bill, eroding any domestic gains,” they added.
Industry observers argue that without transparent management and long-term investment in refining and pipeline networks, discoveries risk being underutilized. “The reserves are there, but the system to harness them efficiently is not,” one analyst noted.
