The state-run Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) is planning a major expansion of unconventional gas developments from early next year, aiming to boost production and reduce reliance on imported liquefied natural gas.

Pakistan has long been viewed as having potential in both tight and shale gas, which are trapped in rock and can only be released with specialised drilling, but commercial output has yet to be proved.

Managing Director Ahmed Lak told Reuters that OGDCL had tripled its tight-gas study area to 4,500 square kilometres after new seismic and reservoir analysis indicated larger potential. Phase two of a technical evaluation will finish by the end of January, followed by full development plans.

The renewed push comes after US President Donald Trump said Pakistan held “massive” oil reserves in July, a statement analysts said lacked credible geological evidence, but which prompted Islamabad to underscore that it is pursuing its own efforts to unlock unconventional resources.

“We started with 85 wells, but the footprint has expanded massively,” Lak said, adding that OGDCL’s next five-year plan would look “drastically different”.

Early results point to a “significant” resource across parts of Sindh and Balochistan, where multiple reservoirs show tight-gas characteristics, he said.

Shale pilot ramps up

OGDCL is also fast-tracking its shale programme, shifting from a single test well to a five-to-six-well plan in 2026-27, with expected flows of 34 million standard cubic feet per day (mmcfd) per well. If successful, the development could scale to hundreds or even more than 1,000 wells, Lak said.

He said shale alone could eventually add 600 mmcfd to 1 billion standard cubic feet per day of incremental supply, though partners would be needed if the pilot proves viable.

The company is open to partners “on a reciprocal basis”, potentially exchanging acreage abroad for participation in Pakistan, he said.

A 2015 US Energy Information Administration study estimated Pakistan had 9.1 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil, the largest such resource outside China and the United States.

A 2022 assessment found parts of the Indus Basin geologically comparable to North American shale plays, though analysts say commercial viability still hinges on better geomechanical data, expanded fracking capacity and water availability.

OGDCL plans to begin drilling a deep-water offshore well in the Indus Basin in the fourth quarter of 2026, Lak said. In October, Turkey’s TPAO, with PPL and its consortium partners, including OGDCL, were awarded a block for offshore exploration.

A combination of weak gas demand, rising solar uptake and a rigid LNG import schedule has created a surplus of gas that forced OGDCL to curb output and pushed Pakistan to divert cargoes from Italy’s ENI and seek revised terms with Qatar.

Streaming giant Netflix has agreed to acquire film and television studio Warner Bros Discovery for nearly $83 billion, the two US companies announced on Friday.

The acquisition, which gives Netflix access to a vast film catalogue as well as the prestigious streaming service HBO Max, is the largest consolidation deal in the entertainment industry since Disney’s $71bn acquisition of Fox in 2019.

The transaction values Warner Bros Discovery at $27.75 per share, implying a total equity value of approximately $72.0bn and an enterprise value — including debt — of around $82.7bn.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares closed at $24.54 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

Over the decades, Warner Brothers has produced film classics including Casablanca and Citizen Kane, as well as more recent blockbuster shows including ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and the Harry Potter movies.

“Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, which has produced global hits including ‘Stranger Things’, KPop Demon Hunters and ‘Squid Game’.

“Today’s announcement combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, in the statement.

The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, is to close within 12 to 18 months, they said.

Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib announced that Pakistan is set to launch its first “stablecoin” as part of its drive to make virtual assets a part of the economy.

The PVARA is an autonomous federal body governed by a multi-stakeholder board including the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue. Its mandate is to curb illicit finance, protect consumers and unlock opportunities in fintech, remittances and tokenised assets, while fostering Shariah-compliant innovation through regulatory sandboxes.

A stablecoin, according to Bloomberg, is a digital token whose value is intrinsically linked to a physical currency, such as the US dollar, making it more stable than other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.­

Speaking at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, the crypto czar said that Pakistan will “definitely launch” a stablecoin, adding that the country is working on both that and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

“I think it is a great way to collateralise the government debt,” Saqib said. “We want to be at the forefront of this financial digital innovation that is happening. Why should we be at the tail-end of it when we have the muscle and the adoption?”

The Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) said that Saqib also participated in a panel discussion on the future of virtual assets and emerging-market regulation, according to a post on their X account.

“He emphasised that for countries like Pakistan, clear and innovation-friendly crypto regulation is a key driver of economic growth,” the post read. “Pakistan’s work on stablecoins, data frameworks, and banking the unbanked can become valuable case studies for the world.”

Earlier this year, Saqib unveiled the country’s first government-led Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. He announced the reserve after delivering a keynote address before an elite audience, which included United States Vice President JD Vance, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, at the Bitcoin Vegas 2025 in Las Vegas.

In May, the government announced the allocation of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the first phase of a national initiative to power Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.