The government had laid out a plan in August last year to drill 46 wells to extract 618 million cubic feet (MMcf) gas per day by 2025.
However, up to this point, only six out of the eight wells drilling have been completed within a year, contributing a mere 93 MMcf/d to the overall target.
As far as the implementation of plans is concerned, Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL) is significantly ahead, Bapex is making progress at an intermediate stage, while the performance of Bangladesh Gas Fields Limited (BGFCL) is deemed unsatisfactory.
Petrobangla data showed, domestic sources are producing approximately 2,150 MMcf/d of gas, and an additional 850 MMcf/d is being imported at a high cost through LNG. However, despite these efforts, there remains a significant shortfall of around 1,000 MMcf/d in gas supply. As a consequence of this natural gas scarcity, power plants, manufacturing industries, and households are enduring severe hardships in recent times.
Reportedly, there seems to be a lack of focus on natural gas exploration, despite the abundant potential in the entire Bengal delta, as there is a prevailing inclination towards gas importation.
Agreements were made recently to procure LNG from Qatar and Oman, and further plans are in place to import LNG from Malaysia, Brunei, and Italy. Additionally, LNG purchases from the spot market at elevated prices are also taking place.
Speaking to The Business Post, Geologist and energy expert Badrul Imam said, “The realization of the plan to produce 618 MMcf/d of gas within the next one and a half to two years appears unfeasible. While some of the planned workover and development wells may be drilled and completed, the execution of exploration wells seems impractical at this time.”
He added, “In a reactionary move to address criticisms regarding the government's reliance on fuel imports, these measures are being implemented on a temporary basis. If this approach proves unsuccessful, the government may resort to a defense claiming that it had originally intended to explore domestic gas reserves, but local institutions were unable to execute the plan, leading to a resumption of imports.”
Petrobangla says out of 46 wells, 15 are development wells, 16 are workover and 15 are exploration wells. Development wells are those expected to yield gas during initial testing and exploration, workover wells involve renovating old wells to extract gas when found, and exploration wells are completely new wells drilled for exploration purposes.
The government has assigned the task of executing the 618 MMcf/d gas extraction plan to the state-owned entities--Bapex, SGFL, and BGFCL.
Out of Bapex's 19 wells, five have been drilled, and among them, three have successfully yielded 60 MMcf/d of gas. Bapex has two exploration wells, Tobgi-1 and Elisha-1, along with one development well, Bhola North-2. Currently, the evaluation of tenders for procuring and installing process plants to feed the produced gas into the national grid is in progress. However, despite drilling two separate wells at Srikail North-1 and Shariatpur-1, Bapex officials have confirmed that no gas has been found in those locations.
Among the remaining 14 wells under Bapex's purview, five wells located in Shahbazpur will be drilled by the Netherlands-based company, Gazprom EP International BV. Additionally, Bapex has devised a plan to handle the drilling process through the contractor of Srikail Deep-1, Mubarakpur Deep-1, and Fenjuganj-Deep-1. The preparation of the Detailed Project Proposal (DPP) for these wells is currently underway. It is expected that gas may be discovered in these wells at a depth ranging from 5,500 to 6,000 meters, while Bapex rigs are capable of drilling up to depths of 5,200 to 5,400 meters.
Despite numerous attempts to reach the managing director of Bapex, Md Shoyeb, through phone calls and office, could not be reached.
However, two officials from Bapex, speaking on the condition of anonymity, informed this correspondent that the issue has emerged due to delays in obtaining necessary approvals before commencing work and facing bureaucratic complexities.
As per the outlined plan, the completion of 13 wells under BGFCL is expected within the coming year, with an anticipated addition of 173 MMcf/d of gas. However, after a year has passed, BGFCL managed to work over only one well (Titas-24), resulting in the discovery of a mere 8.5 MMcf/d of gas.
BGFCL's Managing Director (in-charge), Abdus Sultan said the DPP for the remaining 12 wells has been prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources last month. Once the approval is obtained, the main work on those wells will commence.
SGFL's progress in gas fields is more promising compared to BAPEX and BGFCL. SGFL has taken the initiative to drill a total of seven workover wells, six exploration wells, and one development well, Energy and Mineral Resources Division added.
Managing Director of SGFL Mizanur Rahman said we hope to get 164 MMcf/d gas per day after the completion of 14 wells by December next year.
