Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif celebrated a “historic” trade deal with the United States, expressing gratitude to Donald Trump for facilitating a new strategic partnership. The agreement, unveiled on July 30–31, 2025, aims to jointly develop Pakistan’s untapped oil reserves, with the U.S. expected to choose a company to lead the project.

Sharif regarded Trump’s role in brokering peace between India and Pakistan as a “major diplomatic achievement”, and emphasized that the new trade deal could strengthen bilateral relations across trade, energy, and peacekeeping fronts.

Despite long-standing Pakistani claims of vast oil deposits off its coast, exploration efforts to date have produced no commercially viable oil, and prior attempts—including those by ExxonMobil and ENI - yielded dry wells. Analysts remain cautious, noting that discovery does not guarantee extraction without infrastructure, investment, and successful drilling results.

With trade negotiations ongoing and Pakistan’s Finance Minister recently visiting Washington to finalize terms, stakeholders view the deal as a turning point - if development moves beyond announcements into action.