"Massive Oil and Natural Gas Reservoir Discovered"… Pakistan Buzzes with Excitement over Windfall News

Reports have emerged that Pakistan has discovered large-scale oil and natural gas reserves in its territorial waters.

Pakistan Flag [Image Source=Yonhap News]

On the 8th (local time), according to local media such as Dawn News TV, Muhammad Arif, a former employee of Pakistan's Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), stated in an interview with Dawn News TV the previous day that Pakistan achieved this result after conducting a three-year investigation together with a friendly country.

The identity of the friendly country has not been disclosed.

However, Arif was cautious, saying that it cannot currently be guaranteed that the actual reserves match the estimated quantities.

He explained, "Whether the reserves can meet Pakistan's energy demand depends on the size of the reserves and the speed of development."

He added that the exploration requires an investment of about 5 billion dollars (approximately 6.7 trillion won) and it may take 4 to 5 years to yield results, noting that additional important underground resources might be discovered during the exploration process.

If oil and gas are actually produced from Pakistan's territorial waters, it is expected to significantly change Pakistan's economic situation, which is currently receiving external support due to economic difficulties.

Local media reported that although the amount of reserves discovered this time is unknown, Pakistan could rank as the 4th largest country in the world in terms of oil and gas reserves.

The country with the largest proven oil reserves in the world is currently Venezuela (about 3.4 billion barrels), followed by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, and Iraq.