State-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) announced Tuesday that it has made the biggest gas discovery in the country for a decade in Matiari, Sindh, in the southeast of the country.

Pakistan Petroleum announces gas find

Pakistan

KARACHI, December 16, 2015 – State-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) announced Tuesday that it has made the biggest gas discovery in the country for a decade in Matiari, Sindh, in the southeast of the country.

The discovery flows at a rate of 1.68 mcm (56 mcf) per day. The company will continue to drill and aims to increase the field’s output to 2.4 mcm (80 mcf) per day.

This output would be large enough to meet the feedstock need of the Engro fertiliser plant in Pakistan, which has experienced continuous shutdowns due to gas shortages.

PPL’s production level has been in continuous decline in the last four years, from around 28.3 mcm (1 bcf) per day between 2011 and 2012 to 23.4 mcm (825 mcf) per day in 2014.

According to the Energy Information Administration, Pakistan’s natural gas reserves are declining and the country lacks the infrastructure to import more gas to meet demand. The country consumed 42 bcm (1.48 tcf) of gas in 2014.