It's rare these days to find a non-U.S. oil region that's actually upping production.
But news this week suggests that's the case in one far-afield locale: Pakistan.
Local media report that Pakistan's national oil output hit 92,905 barrels per day during March. Representing record output for the country.
This trend has been in motion for some time. With production for the nine months from July 2013 to March 2014 up 11%. To an average of 83,000 barrels per day.
All of those figures suggest Pakistan's petroleum output is continuing to surge. And perhaps even accelerating its growth.
The question is: why now?
The recent production numbers are striking when considered against the figures for the last decade. Which saw national oil output stuck between about 60,000 and 70,000 barrels per day since 2003.
It's only the last few years that E&Ps have begun to make headway in adding new production.
It may be that improving security and access are allowing drillers to finally get some scale in their exploration efforts here. It's also possible that import of oil field services technology has reached a tipping point, allowing the industry to modernize its drilling.
Whatever the reason, the rise in production is a notable data point. Suggesting that something has changed for the better here--at long last.
This could signal significant opportunities at hand. Especially for junior companies. While Pakistan holds some giant natural gas fields, the oil fields tend to be below the threshold size needed to attract big oil players.
But these pools are certainly large enough to have an impact for smaller companies. Perhaps we'll see more such firms looking here over the coming months and years.
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Here's to finally making progress,
By Dave Forest
