The Titas-21 well, which was shut within four months of starting natural gas supply, requires to be 'worked over' to initiate production again, a senior official told the FE.
He said state-run Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd (BGFCL) has already floated an international tender to carry out the work-over of the onshore well in the country's largest Titas gas field in Brahmanbaria district.
Russian oil and gas major Gazprom had drilled the well under its 10-well drilling programme and initiated natural gas production in January this year with average output of around 15 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).
Gazprom initiated Titas-21 drilling in July 2013 and took one and a half month to drill the well to a depth of 3,545 meters, said the official.
It tested positive in natural gas flow in October 2013.
The well has a potential to supply around 25 mmcfd of gas, said the official.
But it is absurd that the Titas-21 well was shut within four months of initiating gas supply, an energy expert involved in drilling said.
The faulty drilling by Gazprom has forced shutting down of the Titas-21 well, he alleged.
"Water was coming with natural gas from the well due to poor cementing," he added.
A BGFCL official said the company would have to invest again around Tk 400 million to 'work over' the well after paying around Tk 2.0 billion to Gazprom for drilling a development well.
Had the well been drilled flawlessly, the additional costs would not have been required to re-initiate gas supply, he added.
Gazprom is currently involved in a 10-well drilling programme at a total cost of US$193.5 million, with an average drilling cost of $19.3 million per well.
It was awarded the job bypassing tender under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) (Amendment) Act, 2012.
The cost for drilling wells by Gazprom is almost thrice that of drilling any development well by the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (BAPEX) BAPEX, which ranges between $6.0 million and $7.0 million per well, industry insiders said.
The quality of drilling carried out by Gazprom is not up to the mark. Production from the Gazprom-drilled wells is also much less than expected, they also said.
The government assigned Gazprom the job at higher costs eyeing to get around 200-250 mmcfd gas from its drilled wells to augment gas production and ensure supplies to industries, power plants and fertiliser factories.
It awarded Gazprom the work under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010 bypassing the usual tendering process to augment gas production and ensure supplies to industries, power plants and fertiliser factories, a senior Petrobangla official said.
Gazprom has already completed drilling of nine new onshore wells in state-run gas fields but the accumulated gas production from these wells is less than half of the expected production target, the official added.
The lower-than-expected gas of Gazprom-drilled wells has put the government's mid-term gas relevant planning in jeopardy leading the country to depend heavily on oil-fired power plants for electricity generation, he added.
Hundreds of industries and many power plants are still waiting for getting new gas connections while gas supply is being rationed for all the consumers due to its short supply.
Gazprom received first gas in Bangladesh in May, 2013 when it was testing the Srikail-3 onshore well, located in Comilla some 86-km southeast of the capital.
Gazprom is the first foreign company in operation in Bangladesh on a contract basis.
Other international oil companies active in Bangladesh operate under production-sharing contracts (PSCs) or in joint ventures with the Bapex.
azizjst@yahoo.com