Oil and Gas Development Company Limited is accelerating Pakistan’s shale-gas programme after completing the initial vertical drilling and testing phase at the Kunnar Unconventional-1 well in Sindh. OGDCL’s official information confirms that KUC-1 was drilled in the Kunnar–Pasakhi area to assess the shale-gas potential of the Sembar Formation, with multiple hydraulic-fracturing stages producing positive technical results.
The next phase involves horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to assess whether the resource can be produced commercially. According to company officials, the wider area studied may contain around 135 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in place, including an estimated 7.5 TCF in Hyderabad and approximately 74 TCF in Sanghar. These figures represent geological gas-in-place estimates, not immediately recoverable commercial reserves.
OGDCL plans to drill KUC-1 horizontally before expanding the pilot programme through additional wells over the coming years. If technical and financial results remain favourable, the project could eventually support large-scale domestic gas production and reduce Pakistan’s dependence on imported energy.
