Petroleum Division has announced a bidding round of 14 new blocks covering 24000 square kilometers (sq-km) for exploration of oil and gas, tweeted the Minister of Energy, Hammad Azhar.

The petroleum division hopes to tap a resource potential of 15 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) gas, 180 Million Barrel (MB) oil, $100 million investment, and $1.2 million in social welfare schemes, revealed the tweet from the minister.

The statement comes at a time when the government is struggling to manage the ongoing gas crisis. The authorities have accepted that the country is facing a severe gas shortage. However, they have assured that the government is trying its best to deal with the shortage.

Recently, the Prime Minister was briefed regarding the gas shortage in the country. The premier instructed the concerned authorities to take timely action and resolve the gas crisis. He also directed to facilitate gas exploration as it was the cheapest way of increasing gas supply.

In a previous press conference, Hammad Azhar had also told the media that the demand for gas was far higher than the production, and the demand also grew by three times during the winter.

Hammad Azhar also alerted the consumers that the imported LNG was too expensive and was causing a significant loss to the national exchequer. Therefore, the government would not be able to supply the expensive imported LNG for a long period.

To resolve the gas crisis, the cabinet committee on energy had made recommendations that are being implemented. The committee suggested increasing the gas capacity and the number of terminals as well. In addition, the cabinet committee directed the existing terminals to produce gas more efficiently and supply it to the sectors where it was required the most.

The committee had also noted that the gas reserves in the country were declining by 9 percent annually, and therefore, companies looking to increase gas production should be facilitated.

Source: Pro Pakistani