Gas field shut due to lack of gas demand !

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FE Report Gas production from the Shahbazpur gas field in Bhola district has been suspended in the absence of demand, a top official said Saturday. "Both the two wells of the Shahbazpur gas field are now shut as there is no demand in the island," Managing Director of the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Ltd (Bapex) M A Baki told the FE. He said the lone gas consumer, a 34.5 megawatt (mw) gas-fired rental power plant of the Shahbazpur gas field has remained shut for nearly one month prompting shutdown of the gas field's operation. "We are now forced to shut operations of the Shahbazpur gas field," Mr Baki said. Although the government started giving connections to the households in Bhola district from this month, the gas demand there is nominal and is not cost-effective to run the gas field only to meet the household demand. The Shahbazpur gas field has the capacity to produce around 30 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas from two of its wells. Sources said it is very unusual to shut the gas field's operation due to lack of demand when hundreds of industries in other areas across the country are shut due only to gas crisis. Currently, the country's overall natural gas supply is hovering around 2,300 mmcfd against the demand for over 2,700-3,000 mmcfd. Gas scarcity, coupled with low pressure, is squeezing output of industries and hampering cooking in households, they said. The government should immediately install a gas transmission pipeline to carry gas from Bhola to the mainland, they said. State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), however, inked a deal with the Chinese Chengda Engineering Company Ltd to install a 225-mw gas-fired power plant at Borhanuddin Upazila in Bhola to utilise the un-tapped Bhola gas.