Fuel extraction in Pakistan

According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), Pakistan may have over 9 billion barrels (1.4×10⁹ cubic metres) of petroleum oil and 105 trillion cubic feet (3.0 trillion cubic metres) in natural gas (including shale gas) reserves.

As per BP' Statistical Review of World Energy 2016, at the end of 2015 Pakistan had the following proved reserves of fuels: 0.5 Trillion cu m of natural gas and 2.07 Billion tons of coal (sub-bituminous and lignite).

Pakistan's first gas field was found in late 1952 in Balochistan near the giant Sui gas field. The Toot oilfield was not discovered until the early 1960s in the Punjab. It covers 122.67 square kilometres (47.36 sq mi). Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields explored and began drilling these fields with Soviet help in 1961 and activity began in the Toot oilfield during 1964.

On January 21, 2026, OGDCL announced its latest oil and gas discovery in its Baragzai X-01 exploratory well in the Nashpa Block of Kohat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. the company will be producing about 3,100 barrels of crude oil and 8.15 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. This is the third discovery the company has made at this site within a month. It will add around 14.5 % to the country’s domestic crude output, helping reduce reliance on costly energy imports.

The Toot area is one of the oldest oil producing regions in Pakistan with the first oil well drilled in 1964 when President Ayub Khan encouraged a mineral development policy. It is located in the Khaur, Punjab Province, which is located approximately 135 km southwest of the capital city of Islamabad. In 1964 the first well was drilled and commercial production started in 1967. There are about 60 million barrels of oil in place of which 12%-15% is recoverable. At its peak during 1986, the field was producing approximately 2,400 barrel of oil per day. It has grown steadily since then, producing both oil and, to a lesser degree, natural gas. Oil production was entirely confined to the Potwar Plateau till 1981, when Union Texas Pakistan subsidiary discovered its first oil-field in Lower Sindh. By 1998-1999, the Lower Sindh gas-fields were producing more oil than the Potohar Plateau. Since then, new deposits have also been found here.

In 2005, the Vancouver-based 'International Sovereign Energy' signed a memorandum of understanding with the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, Pakistan's national oil company, to develop the Toot field. Schlumberger Oilfield Services first started operations in early 2006. After favorable results, the Vancouver-based 'Junior oil' and International 'Sovereign Energy Corp'. Oil and gas exploration companies signed a memorandum of agreement with the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, Pakistan's national oil company, in mid-2005, to develop the Toot oil field in Punjab Province, near the capital city of Islamabad. The company is also providing electricity to locals living around the residential camps of Toot oil field and the neighbouring Missa Keswaal oil field.

The crude oil that is produced in Pakistan gets refined at home at five oil refineries which are Cnergyico Pk Limited, Pak-Arab Refinery Company Limited (PARCO), Pakistan Refinery Limited, Attock Refinery Limited, and National Refinery Limited. The combined processing capacity of these five refineries is roughly 420,000 barrels per day. Cnergyico Pk Limited is Pakistan's largest oil refiner with installed processing capacity of 156,000 barrels per day, accounting for around 37% of Pakistan's total oil refining capacity.

In 2019, it was announced that Saudi Aramco will establish an oil refinery in Gwadar.