Finally, natural gas is going to be supplied to different industries in Dhaka and adjoining areas from Bhola in the current month in CNG (compressed natural gas) form.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid is set to inaugurate the launching of the venture by private firm Intraco, a leading CNG station operator in the country, at a function on Thursday.
Intraco LPG signed a contract on May 21 this year with state-owned Sundarban Gas Company Limited (SGCL) to supply gas to different industries in Dhaka and adjoining areas including Gazipur and Tangail.
Under a 10-year contract, Intraco Refuelling Station Ltd will bring the gas from southern district Bhola in CNG form by large trailers, each having 4000 cubic metres and sell it to the industries at Tk 47.50 per unit (1,000 cubic feet).
As per the contract, Intraco will initially supply 5 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas and later 20 mmcfd gas to the private industries.
State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) is extracting gas from the Bhola field. However, nothing was mentioned about the rate of the gas to be sold to the industries.
Both the Bapex and SGCL are subsidiaries of state-owned Petrobangla, the principal petroleum corporation, responsible for dealing with both upstream and downstream production and supply.
The Intraco Refuelling Station has been selected for the contract under the Promot Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act, 2010.
Currently, about 2,576 mmcfd of gas is being supplied across the country which 2,076 mmcfd of gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in the country, while about 500 mmcfd of gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4,000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 14,024 mmcfd.
The two Bhola gas fields have around 200 mmcf production capacity, while the production hovers between 80-85 mmcf.
Therefore, around 120 mmcf surplus capacity remains unused in the eight wells of the Shahbazpur and Bhola gas fields.
Due to the lack of pipeline and transmission facilities, the government was unable to supply the surplus gas from the Bhola field to other energy-hungry industrial zones in Dhaka and elsewhere.
