ISLAMABAD: Managing Director Maripur Petroleum Limited Lt General (Retd) Raza Ahmad has informed Pakistans Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit- Baltistan Affairs Chaudary Barjees Tahir that there were chances of the presence of oil reserves in some areas of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, especially in Mangla and Mirpur.
During his meeting with the minister, Raza said India was exploring oil and gas from part of the territory that is under its control and geologists from Pakistan should be allowed to work to make the picture clear at this side.
Raza further informed that an Italian company with expertise in the field is interested to work on the project.
It may be mentioned here that earlier also there were reports of possible oils and gas reserves in Jammu and Kashmir and some six years back, geoscientists had started a study to discover oil in the state, following exploration of hydrocarbons from rock-beds, similar to those found in the state, in several countries.
The study was supported by an Italian oil company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI), fourth largest in the world.
Recently huge deposits of oil were found in millions of years old rocks in many African and Asian countries including Siberia, Oman and Morocco, noted Geoscientist Prof GM Bhat, who heads the department of Geology at Jammu University, was reported to have said.
In Jammu and Kashmir studies have shown presence of more than 1000 million years-old rock types similar to the ones from where oil reserves were explored in other countries. Such rocks are also found in Pakistan and many middle-east countries, Prof Bhat said.
J&K is part of Tethys Basin, a Mesozoic era ocean that existed between the continents of Gondawana and Laurasia before the opening of the Indian Ocean in the region, some 300 million years ago. Geoscientists believe that the rock type of most of the regions in Asia and Africa, including Jammu and Kashmir, is sedimentary in nature, which is considered to be the potential source of hydrocarbons formed due to the decomposition of organic matter in the rocks over centuries.
According to Prof Bhat, many rocks have shown the symptoms which indicate presence of oil reserves in them. There are rocks with oil reserves but its exploration will require an in-depth study and the research can take five to six years, he said.
It will be a two-phase study. We have started the research program in many areas of Jammu including Reasi, Patnitop, Baglihar, Udhampur. We will simultaneously start our field work in Kashmir this summer, Prof Bhat said.
Possibility of oil reserves in Kashmir
