Pakistan may soon hit oil, gas jackpot in Arabian sea, says Imran Khan

[Spartan]

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that his country is on the verge of hitting a kind of jackpot in the form of discovering a huge reserve of oil and gas in the Arabian Sea.

He hopes that the discovery will solve the economic problems of the cash-strapped country.

The offshore drilling for oil was in final stages and there could be a major find, he added.

"I implore that we all pray that Pakistan gets this natural resource in substantial quantity. Our hopes and expectations from the offshore drilling being carried out by the ExxonMobil-led consortium prove to be true," he said on Thursday.

"There's already been a delay of about three weeks, but if the indications we are getting from the companies are anything to go by, there's a strong possibility that we may discover a very big reserve in our waters. And if that happens, Pakistan will altogether be in a different league," Khan said.

In an informal chat with a group of newspaper editors and other senior journalists, Khan did not share details of the offshore drilling process. And there has been no official word from ExxonMobil and the international oil exploration company ENI which have been involved since January in drilling an ultra-deep well (230km inside the sea) for oil in what is known as Kekra-1 area.

Italy's ENI and US oil major Exxon Mobil are jointly drilling for gas offshore in Pakistan's Arabian Sea. Many other Western companies have left more than a decade ago because of Islamist militant violence.

ExxonMobil returned to Pakistan after nearly a decade after surveys were carried out last year suggesting the possibility of big oil reserves within the Pakistani waters.

Talking about various challenges his government was confronted with, Khan said that bringing about economic stability remained his biggest challenge.

When he took charge, the foreign reserves were extremely low and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was putting extremely tough conditions, like "asking us to allow free floating of the rupee", he added.

Khan said that with the help of friendly countries like the UAE, China and particularly Saudi Arabia, the government managed to improve the situation. Now, he said, even the IMF had relaxed its terms and things were moving in the right direction.

Pakistan has received USD 1 billion each from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as part of the bailout packages by the two Gulf nations to help shore up Islamabad's dwindling foreign currency reserves.

[DrBeta]

Good for them. 

[Spartan]

Hope they put this in proper use for development and welfare of people..

rather than becoming puppets in the hand of hardcore Islamic Prophets who instigate violence...and mainly in the hands of China...

[futureofandhra]

During congi time everything was under water n even vajpayee time

Ee bodi vachina daggara nundi everything open

Hope foreign policy will be better

[DrBeta]

If they have money, the US will suck their ass. 

[cosmopolitan]

1 minute ago, futureofandhra said:

During congi time everything was under water n even vajpayee time

Ee bodi vachina daggara nundi everything open

Hope foreign policy will be better

E news ki modiki relation enti

[dasara_bullodu]

2 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Hope they put this in proper use for development and welfare of people..

rather than becoming puppets in the hand of hardcore Islamic Prophets who instigate violence...and mainly in the hands of China...

Doubt e antha China lagestadi

[Ashtavakra]

I thought Imran Khan was smart. lol idiot. 

hitting oil means nothing, if you cant extract them at below market prices. KG basin lo kooda gas hit.. em peekaaru?

[Spartan]

Just now, dasara_bullodu said:

Doubt e antha China lagestadi

US firms kada Exxon

[LastManStanding]

Soon..they gonna get Freedom

[Ashtavakra]

3 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Hope they put this in proper use for development and welfare of people..

rather than becoming puppets in the hand of hardcore Islamic Prophets who instigate violence...and mainly in the hands of China...

lol. brother. Pakistan ni sarigga study chey. Its elite is much worse than India's 'secular' elite.

the Islamist movement is in opposition to that elitism, to their exploitation of the common man. Much like Hindutva was (not currently) positioning itself in the 80s.

Imran khan is trying to play both sides. Islamism is a problem in pakistan, but equal problem is the secular elite of pakistan .

Islam ani peru vintey ney something bad anukuney type nuvvu, and majority politically interested Hindus. but movements have a deeper and a far more relevant local history than we realize.

not saying Islamists will help create equal society, but they are simply reactionary, and are not the cause of the mess pakistan finds itself in now.

[Ashtavakra]

the pakistanis you get to speak with in UK/USA etc represent its elite. Their arrogance tells me why pakistan is the shithole it is.

[DrBeta]

1 minute ago, Ashtavakra said:

lol. brother. Pakistan ni sarigga study chey. Its elite is much worse than India's 'secular' elite.

the Islamist movement is in opposition to that elitism, to their exploitation of the common man. Much like Hindutva was (not currently) positioning itself in the 80s.

Imran khan is trying to play both sides. Islamism is a problem in pakistan, but equal problem is the secular elite of pakistan .

Islam ani peru vintey ney something bad anukuney type nuvvu, and majority politically interested Hindus. but movements have a deeper and a far more relevant local history than we realize.

not saying Islamists will help create equal society, but they are simply reactionary, and are not the cause of the mess pakistan finds itself in now.

Judgemental much?

[dasara_bullodu]

6 minutes ago, Spartan said:

US firms kada Exxon

More geo politics in action

[Ashtavakra]

2 minutes ago, DrBeta said:

Judgemental much?

in what way? or are you trying to learn how to use the word 'judgemental' in  a sentence?