(TOI)
Minister of State Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan in reply to a question by Barmer MP Col Sona Ram Choudhary Monday agreed that Pakistan is producing gas from the fields located near border areas.
“The exploration work was suspended since last 25 years. Now, our government has encouraged exploration activities. This will lead to hydrocarbon production not only from Jaisalmer and Barmer but also from Kuchchh region of Gujarat,” the minister claimed.
Col Sona Ram, while putting his question in Parliament, said Pakistan is producing gas on a large scale and its gas fields are quite close to Indo-Pak border adjoining Jaisalmer. “Jaisalmer got the first gas exploration work 40-50 years ago. Gas fields were discovered and supply was started to nearby gas based power plants. Currently, a number of gas wells, situated at border are not functioning. Meanwhile, many Chinese companies are exploring for hydrocarbon on the other side of the border. As we are not exploring and producing gas, our gas is migrating to Pakistan side,” he added.
