Pakistan has claimed to have found new reserves of crude oil and natural gas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has described this discovery as a big achievement for the country and said that this will strengthen the foreign exchange reserves and reduce the expenditure on oil and gas imports.

Discovery found in Nashpa block of Kohat district
According to Pakistani agencies, oil and gas reserves have been discovered in Nashpa block of Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There is a possibility of extracting about 4,100 barrels of crude oil and 10.5 million cubic feet of gas daily from here.

Hope to reduce dependence on imports
The Pakistani government says that this discovery will help in meeting the country’s energy needs and reduce dependence on imports. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said in a high-level meeting of the petroleum and gas sector that exploration of oil and gas at the local level will strengthen foreign exchange reserves and reduce expenditure on purchases.

OGDCL confirmed
Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has confirmed the discovery of oil and gas in Nashpa block. Company officials said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has congratulated OGDCL and other concerned agencies for this discovery.

Target of new gas connections by 2026
During the meeting, officials said that sufficient gas has been supplied to the customers this year. Now the government aims to provide 3.5 lakh new gas connections by June 2026. Pakistan is presenting this discovery as a major success in the energy sector.

Resources are there, but questions on development
However, even before this Pakistan has been claiming to find oil and gas reserves in Balochistan. People of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan say that the natural resources of their areas are used, but the income from it is not spent on local development.

Why are Khyber and Balochistan backward?
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are still considered quite backward compared to Punjab. Local people allege that Pakistani Punjabis dominate the army, politics and administration, while they do not get the benefits of the resources of their areas. This is the reason why dissatisfaction and opposition have been visible in these areas for a long time.

There has been a long claim of having a huge oil-gas reserves in Pakistan, but every time these claims are obtained, because the reality is far away from it. When Imran Khan was Prime Minister in 2019, he also announced that a large reserves of oil and gas are going to be found near the border of Iran, about 230-280 km from the coast of Karachi.

Imran Khan then said that this store will be so big that Pakistan will not only meet its oil needs, but will also be able to export oil. At that time the American company was drilling in a block named Kekra-1 in the Cakra-1 at the ENI Samudra.

Imran Khan’s claims had made Pakistan trouble

The claims of Tatkalinee PM had raised hope among the Pakistanis at that time, but after a few hours, Pakistan’s Petroleum Ministry made it clear that there was no significant results in drilling. Later, Director General of Pakistan Petroleum Limited Moin Raza Khan said that only water was found in Kekra-1 instead of oil or gas. The project cost $ 124 billion, but the possibility of success was just 12 percent.

Due to this, Imran Khan was very upset not only in Pakistan but also worldwide, because his big claims were declared false. Many critics said that these claims were made only to woo foreign investors and divert public attention from the economic crisis.

In 2024, Pakistan left the Shigufa of ‘Neela Treasure’

In September 2024, there were reports in the Pakistani media once again that a huge reserves of oil and gas have been found in the sea area. It was claimed that it could be the fourth largest oil gas reserves in the world. Even it was named Neela Treasure. And it was said that this discovery took place after a three -year geographical survey. Experts questioned this claim.

Muhammad Arif, a former member of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), said that the search is promising but the size of the store and how much oil-gas can be extracted from it is not yet clear. It may take 4-5 years to extract oil or gas and it requires an investment of more than $ 5 billion. A 2024 report stated that exxonmobil and other companies excavated up to 5500 meters, but no significant reserves were found.

Pakistani remains a joke of Trump’s statement

Recently, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would develop its ‘huge oil reserves’ with Pakistan. Trump even said that maybe one day Pakistan sold oil to India, but this statement became a joke in Pakistan itself. People called it a comedy show on social media. One user wrote that Trump’s tweet to Pakistan revealed that we have oil.

Why do these news fly again and again?

Many Pakistanis said that these claims are old and earlier also such promises were made during Imran Khan, which proved to be hollow. Some jokingly said that maybe Pakistan will try to sell Iranian oil as its own.

According to experts, Pakistan’s economy is burdened with debt and inflation. In such a situation, the news of the discovery of oil becomes a means of concentrating public attention and attracting foreign investors. The same happened during Imran Khan and now Trump’s statement has again given a wind to this discussion.

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