Home ›› 11 Nov 2022 ›› Front
Authorities have discovered large gas reserves by redigging an abandoned workover well in Sylhet and expect to extract 10 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day from it.
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) found the gas reserves on Thursday by redigging well no 1– declared abandoned six years ago– in Beanibazar gas field for over a month.
“We will soon begin extracting gas from the well after completing some other works,” said Shaheenur Islam, managing director of Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL).
He said, “Initially, the expectation was to get 5 MMcf of gas per day. But now we think we will get a lot more than that.”
According to sources at the state-run SGFL, there are two wells in the Beanibazar gas field. Among them, extraction from well no 1 began in 1999 and was closed in 2014. Later, authorities began extracting from the well once again in 2016 but that did not last and was declared abandoned in the same year. Before being abandoned a total of 35 billion cubic feet of gas was extracted from the well from 3450 metres of depth.
On September 10 of this year, authorities began redigging the well in hopes of discovering untapped gas reserves.
SGFL MD Shaheenur said authorities are also drilling two other wells under SGFL in Gopalganj and Gowainghat upazila. Work is also going on to lay a pipeline in Rashidpur gas field.
In addition, three-dimensional seismic survey work for two projects in Dupitila, Batchia, Hararganj, Zakiganj and Sylhet South under block-13 and 14 of Beanibazar ga field is nearing completion.
SGFL’s gas extraction capacity will massively increase once these projects are completed, he said.
Shaheenur said, “These will add significant amounts of gas into the national grid in 2023. By 2025, when all projects are expected to see completion, SGFL’s per day production capacity is expected to increase to 164 MMcf.”
Sylhet is long known for its natural gas reserves, with early discoveries dating back to 1955.
Currently, there are 28 gas fields in the country which has proven reserves of 21.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.
(Our Sylhet correspondent Rezaul Haque contributed to the story.)
