GSP for lump sum release of Rs415.8 mln drilling rigs acquisition budget

ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (APP): The Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) needs lump sum release of Rs 415.8 million budget allocated for acquisition of drilling rigs in the Public Sector Development Programme 2017-18.
“Last year the GSP had surrendered the budget as it was not able to acquire the rigs due to quarterly releases. The budget has been re-allocated for the current year, but we need it in lump sum to meet requirements for tender floating and making payments for the rigs,” official sources told APP.
They said the latest drilling rigs would help increase minerals identification and exploration activities in potential areas of the country and achieve self-reliance in the energy sector.
The rigs would be in use of the GSP to map existing hydrocarbon resources in different potential areas of the country, they added.
Answering a question, the sources informed that the state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) had around nine own rigs with the capacity to drill up to 5,500 meters deep.
“The company-owned rigs’ drilling capacity is from 2,500 to 5,500 meters, which are almost 35 to 40 years old,” they added.
They said Pakistan was facing a huge gap between demand and supply of energy.
Currently, the sources said, its total gas production was four billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) against the demand of eight bcfd of gas, and the oil production stood at around 10,000 barrels per day, while its requirement was seven to eight times higher than the production.
They expressed confidence that oil and gas exploration production would increase with arrival of new drilling rigs and geological survey equipment.