Bapex
More gas likely to be found in Sylhet’s Kailashtila field: Nasrul
Bangladesh's State Minister for Power, Energy, and Minerals Resources Nasrul Hamid hoped that 1.6 TCF (trillion cubic feet) more gas will be found at the Kailashtila gas field in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet.
It will be confirmed once the drilling is completed within the next four months, he said.
The state minister made the remarks after visiting the Kailashtila well No 8 on Saturday (February 17, 2024).
Nasrul said the Kailashtila field previously had 3 TCF reserves and more gas reserve will be found once the current search wells are drilled.
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“We are waiting for you to take initiative. The ministry does not undertake any project. We want everyone to show their capability. Sylhet gas field has moved forward, taking on more projects. We want others to come forward as well, ” he told officials.
Mizanur Rahman, managing director of Sylhet Gas Fields Limited, said seven wells were drilled in Kailashtila earlier, and gas was found in every well.
“It is expected to find more than 1 TCF of gas after digging at 3500 meters of the well,” he said.
The drilling of the Kailashtila-8 well started on January 11 this year. The work is expected to be completed in 120 days. State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) is digging the well.
Read: Gas crisis puts 3 major fertilizer factories out of production for nine days in Ctg
Besides, there is an existing transmission only one and a half kilometers away and a usable process plant at a distance of two and a half kilometers. Although gas is surplus in many areas, including Bhola, and Zakiganj, it cannot be used as there is no transmission.
Previously undiscovered gas found in Bhola North-2 field
More reserves of gas have been found in Bangladesh's Bhola North-2 gas field.
The Bangladesh Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources in a press release said that new gas was found from an appraisal well.
It mentioned that the drilling works started at the Bhola North -2 Gas Filed on December 5 last year and ended on January 17 this year after reaching 3,428 metre depth to the underground ground.
“Today (Monday, January 23, 2023) the discovery was made after completion of the Drill-Stem Testing (DST).”
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The DST in exploration wells is the last step of oil and gas exploration.
“The actual amount of gas production will be determined after completion of the final production testing. But Bapex is hopeful that the field would produce 20 MMCF per day,” said the release.
Gas reserve found in abandoned well of Beanibazar
Bapex, the state-owned gas and oil exploration entity, has found fresh gas reserve in an abandoned well of Beanibazar under Sylhet Gas Field.
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) officials expect that they will get 10 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) daily from the well.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid made the announcement on Thursday in a post from his verified Facebook page.
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“Along with that 100 barrels of condensate will be produced from the well daily. Hopefully within a short time we will be able to add the newfound gas and condensate to the national grid,” he said.
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) started drilling the well on September 10 and confirmed of finding of the gas reserve on Thursday morning.
Nasrul Hamid said by 2025, they will dig 46 new exploration, development and workover wells.
“We are hopeful of adding around 620 MMCFD gas to the national grid from these wells,” he said.
According to Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL), there are two wells in Beanibazar under Sylhet Gas Field. Production from well no 1 started in 1999 and was closed in 2014.
Production resumed in well no 1 at the beginning of 2016 and was stopped again at the end of the same year. From then the well remained abandoned.
Engineer Shahinur Islam, Managing Director of SGFL, said, "We will soon be able to start production from this well after completing some other activities. Before the start of drilling, it was estimated in the Development Project Performa (DPP) that 5 MMCFD gas will be found in the well but now it seems the amount of available gas will be more.”
Read more: New gas found in Bhola field amid crisis
Apart from Beanibazar well, digging of Kailashtila-8 and Goainghat-10 wells in Golapganj and installation work of 1 transmission pipeline in Rashidpur is going on under Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL),he said.
SGFL's gas production will further increase after completion of these projects, he said.
Sinopec, Halliburton set to start spud drilling in offshore block SS-04 Wednesday
Chinese Sinopec and the US-based Halliburton are set to start spud drilling Kanchan-1 Well under the country’s shallow water Block-SS-04 on Wednesday.
According to sources at the energy industry, Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation will conduct drilling as the drilling contractor for the project with Halliburton International Gmbh as their subcontractor for integrated services.
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The Chinese and the US company will conduct the drilling as the contractor of India’s state-owned ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL).
The OVL was awarded the block SS-04 by Bangladesh's state-owned Perobangla through production sharing contract in 2014 under a bidding round in 2012.
Earlier, the OVL floated the tender invitation for the provision of drilling of Kanchan-1 onshore well in September 2017 and awarded the contract to the Sinopec.
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The block is located in Bengal Basin and covers an area of 7269 Sq. Km with water depth ranging from 0 to 100 meter.
The block was awarded to a consortium of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd in 2012 Bangladesh bid round and the PSC was signed on in February 2014. ONGC Videsh with 45% PI is the operator and other partners are OIL with 45% PI and Bangladesh’s state-owned BAPEX with 10% PI.
Hydrocarbon exploration: Experts for formula-based pricing to attract IOCs
A formula-based pricing policy needs to be put in place to attract international oil companies (IOCs) to explore hydrocarbon in Bangladesh, energy experts said on Saturday.
"Unless there is a formula to fix energy prices, the IOCs will not be interested to come here," said Khondokar Abdus Saleque, a former senior official of Petrobangla.
Read Experts upset at govt's growing dependence on gas import
Saleque, who was speaking at the seminar "Post-Covid Hydrocarbon Exploration Challenges for Bangladesh," said presently Bangladesh is following a fixed price policy for energy prices; the country is offering $6-plus per unit of gas to the IOCs while it is importing it at over $11.
"In such a situation, the IOCs will not be interested to invest here. Rather, they will be up for it if there is a certain formula for setting the price in line with the global market price," he added.
Read BAPEX discovers 4-layer gas in new part of Haripur
Speaking at the webinar organised by Energy and Power magazine, former Petrobangla chairman Muktadir Ali said Bangladesh failed to make any breakthrough in onshore and offshore hydrocarbon exploration, only because of the gas price offered to IOCs.
"The country will face the real challenge from 2024-25 when its gas production will begin to slow down and fall below 2,000 MMCFD," he said. "Also, we should not depend too much on liquefied natural gas (LNG) import for meeting our energy demand."
Read Cabinet purchase body nods LNG import
Dhaka University geology department Professor Dr Badrul Imam said the government is now engaging foreign companies in the potential gas fields which were discovered by Bapex.
Petroleum geologist M Faridduddin said, "Petrobangla and Bapex could not take the right decision as they need to get approval from the concerned ministry and higher authority to explore hydrocarbons."
Read Two recently-relinquished offshore gas blocks remain unexploited
Former Bapex managing director Mortuza Ahmad Faruque said the Probangla executive board is now dominated by officials from the concerned ministry who do not have the technical know-how.
Experts upset at govt’s growing dependence on gas import
Energy experts at a webinar in Dhaka expressed frustration over the government’s unwillingness on hydrocarbon exploration in the country and growing dependence on gas import to meet the domestic demand.
BAPEX discovers 4-layer gas in new part of Haripur
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) have started extracting gas from a new part of the Haripur gas field located in Jaintapur upazila in Sylhet.
Bapex’s inefficiency prompted govt to hire foreign firms for gas exploration: Nasrul Hamid
Defending the decision to award contracts to foreign companies for gas exploration and production in Bangladesh, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said on Saturday that the state-owned Bapex’s failure to do its job properly prompted the government to take such a step.
New gas reserve found in Cumilla
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) announced the discovery of gas in a well in Srikail of Cumilla’s Muradnagar upazila on Tuesday.
Petrobangla, Bapex sign MoUs with Gazprom to work in energy sector
State-owned Petrobangla and Bapex on Tuesday signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Russian state-owned oil major Gazprom to work together for the development of Bangladesh’s energy sector.