KARACHI: Construction of a multibillion-dollar project with Russia to transport 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of regasified liquefied natural gas from the cities of Karachi to Kasur will commence in July this year, a top Pakistani official said on Sunday.
The project, earlier called the North-South Pipeline but recently renamed the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project, will deliver gas from Pakistan’s coastal regions to industrial areas in the north. It has been held up since 2015 due to a disagreement over fees and United States sanctions against Russian state conglomerate Rostec.
In November, Russian officials visited Pakistan for three-day-long negotiations to finalize work on the project, the biggest infrastructure deal with Russia since the early 1970s when the Soviet Union set up the Pakistan Steel Mills industrial complex at Port Qasim, near Karachi.
“Yes, we are working on the pipeline with Russians,” Nadeem Babar, special assistant to the prime minister on petroleum, told Arab News. “The construction of the 1,100 km long pipeline that will transport 1.6 bcfd gas will start in July.”
Babar said it was too early to estimate the cost of the project, but officials had earlier put it between $2-3 billion. Documents submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan by the Pakistani government show the cost of the project was estimated at $2.7 billion.
The project will be implemented through a special purpose company to be incorporated in Pakistan, with Pakistan holding majority shares.
During the November 2020 meeting, officials from both nations agreed to sign a protocol for amendment in an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed in 2015 to reflect a revised implementation structure for the project after requisite approvals from the two governments.
Indigenous natural gas contributes around 38 percent to Pakistan’s total primary energy supply mix. Pakistan produces around 4 billion cubic feet per day against an unconstrained demand of 6 bcfd and imports gas to meet the deficit, particularly when demand peaks in winters.
Pakistan has become an emerging buyer in the international LNG market over the last few years, with an increasing gap between demand and supply of gas.
The power sector is Pakistan’s largest natural gas consumer, followed by residential consumption and the fertilizer industry.
Pakistan says work on Russian gas pipeline project to start in July
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Pakistan says work on Russian gas pipeline project to start in July
- The 1,100 km long pipeline will transport 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of regasified liquefied natural gas from the cities of Karachi to Kasur
- The gas pipeline project is the biggest infrastructure deal with Russia since the early 1970s, when the Soviet Union set up Pakistan Steel Mills
Pakistan’s OGDC ramps up unconventional gas plans
- Pakistan has long been viewed as having potential in tight and shale gas but commercial output has yet to be proved
- OGDC says has tripled tight-gas study area to 4,500 square km after new seismic, reservoir analysis indicates potential
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state-run Oil & Gas Development Company is planning a major expansion of unconventional gas developments from early next year, aiming to boost production and reduce reliance on imported liquefied natural gas.
Pakistan has long been viewed as having potential in both tight and shale gas, which are trapped in rock and can only be released with specialized drilling, but commercial output has yet to be proved.
Managing Director Ahmed Lak told Reuters that OGDC had tripled its tight-gas study area to 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) after new seismic and reservoir analysis indicated larger potential. Phase two of a technical evaluation will finish by end-January, followed by full development plans.
The renewed push comes after US President Donald Trump said Pakistan held “massive” oil reserves in July, a statement analysts said lacked credible geological evidence, but which prompted Islamabad to underscore that it is pursuing its own efforts to unlock unconventional resources.
“We started with 85 wells, but the footprint has expanded massively,” Lak said, adding that OGDC’s next five-year plan would look “drastically different.”
Early results point to a “significant” resource across parts of Sindh and Balochistan, where multiple reservoirs show tight-gas characteristics, he said.
SHALE PILOT RAMPS UP
OGDC is also fast-tracking its shale program, shifting from a single test well to a five- to six-well plan in 2026–27, with expected flows of 3–4 million standard cubic feet per day (mmcfd) per well.
If successful, the development could scale to hundreds or even more than 1,000 wells, Lak said.
He said shale alone could eventually add 600 mmcfd to 1 billion standard cubic feet per day of incremental supply, though partners would be needed if the pilot proves viable.
The company is open to partners “on a reciprocal basis,” potentially exchanging acreage abroad for participation in Pakistan, he said.
A 2015 US Energy Information Administration study estimated Pakistan had 9.1 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil, the largest such resource outside China and the United States.
A 2022 assessment found parts of the Indus Basin geologically comparable to North American shale plays, though analysts say commercial viability still hinges on better geomechanical data, expanded fracking capacity and water availability.
OGDC plans to begin drilling a deep-water offshore well in the Indus Basin, known as the Deepal prospect, in the fourth quarter of 2026, Lak said. In October, Turkiye’s TPAO with PPL and its consortium partners, including OGDC, were awarded a block for offshore exploration.
A combination of weak gas demand, rising solar uptake and a rigid LNG import schedule has created a surplus of gas that forced OGDC to curb output and pushed Pakistan to divert cargoes from Italy’s ENI and seek revised terms with Qatar.
