Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has signed an agreement with the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) to assess the presence of lithium, rare earth elements and other valuable minerals in water produced during oil and gas operations. The agreement covers advanced Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) elemental profiling and radioactive element analysis. The signing ceremony took place in Islamabad and was attended by OGDCL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Hayat Lak, senior company management and representatives of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and PINSTECH.
Under the agreement, PINSTECH will analyse more than 2,000 samples collected from selected OGDCL wells to measure concentrations of lithium, rare earth elements, precious metals and radioactive elements. The findings will be used to develop a geochemical database of produced water and rank wells according to their mineral content. This information will help identify locations with higher concentrations of critical minerals and provide technical evidence for evaluating the feasibility of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), a process used to recover lithium from liquid sources.
The initiative aims to assess whether produced water, which is typically treated as a by-product of oil and gas extraction, could become a source of commercially valuable minerals. OGDCL has reported that its pilot well, Wahid Bukhsh-01, identified geothermal brine containing 291 milligrams of lithium per litre. Further testing will help determine whether similar concentrations exist across other wells and whether extraction could be technically and economically viable. The latest agreement represents an assessment phase rather than confirmation of a commercial lithium production project.
The partnership forms part of OGDCL’s broader efforts to diversify beyond conventional oil and gas operations into minerals and emerging energy resources. The company is also pursuing activities involving copper, gold, shale gas and tight gas development. If further studies establish viable mineral concentrations and suitable extraction methods, produced water could offer an additional resource for Pakistan’s critical minerals sector. However, commercial production would depend on the results of sample analysis, extraction feasibility, operating costs and subsequent investment decisions.
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