Another piece on the Big Oil Chessboard.

[formercia]

I woke around three this Morning because a related story was nagging me and I just had to put the bits together.
Several Years ago, I was flying into Islamabad and happened to get into a conversation with an American Oil company executive. He was telling me how they were exploring Balochistan and how it had a lot of potential.

A related thread made it all click together:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x578036#578063

So what if several Million Heretics kill each other in the process. The Big Oil Crusaders don't care, they have been doing this for a long time.
Big Oil needs control of this area so they can finish their pipeline to supply oil to Asian customers from the Caspian Basin.



OIL AND GAS
Oil and Gas, both offshore and onshore, can generate a major portion of the total annual revenue for Balochistan. According to the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP), it was estimated during their offshore exploration that there are reserves of 19 trillion cubic feet of gas and 6 trillion barrels of oil in Balochistan. The GSP research confirms large reservoirs of unexplored onshore oil and gas in Balochistan, especially in Panjgur, Lasbella, Kharan, Kalat and Marri districts.

Existing gas fields in Balochistan supply 45% or 11 billion cubic meters of Pakistan’s total gas requirements that generates $1.4 billion annually in revenue (but the Pakistani government remits only $116 million in royalties back to Balochistan!).

Although Saudi Arabia generates 10 million bbl/day of oil, smaller oil producing countries like Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Nigeria, UAE, and Venezuela produce between 2 to 4 million bbl/day. Balochistan has a potential of producing 2 million bbl/day in a very short period of time. At the current crude oil prices of $70/bbl, Balochistan can generate $140 million per day or approximately $40 billion per year in revenue!

MINERAL
The main attraction of Balochistan’s mineral sector is its unexplored geological potential. The territory is based on the geological belt with known world-class mineral deposits that could generate several billion dollars in revenues annually. More than 50 metallic and non-metallic minerals have been discovered in Balochistan. Metallic ores are chromites, copper, gold, silver, iron ore, lead and zinc, while the non-metallic include barite, marble, granite, gypsum, limestone, coal, dolomite, calcite, silica sand, and various building/engineering stones.

[formercia]

1. Dupe, please delete, thanks.

[rman]

2. 6 trillion barrels of oil?

That's more than the amount of current proven reserves and the already extracted amount of conventional oil combined - something in the order of 2 to 4 trillion barrels.