Striking oil — a crude endeavour

Over the last few weeks, local and international media have reported a “massive” oil and gas find in the offshore territory of Pakistan. According to some estimates, the find could be the “fourth largest” oil and gas reserve in the world. That would be a game-changer in more than one way. Today, Venezuela has the largest amount of oil reserves, with over 300 billion barrels of crude oil, followed by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, and Iraq. The United States is believed to have the most untapped shale oil reserves. Several other countries, including Pakistan, as reported by the US Energy Information Agency several years ago, also have a considerable amount of untapped shale oil and gas resources, mostly in Balochistan. But, for Pakistan to extract them, particularly given the investment required to unearth the asset and the prevailing security situation in the province, seems difficult, if not impossible.