Petrobangla's 'urgent action plan' to mitigate gas crisis

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FHM Humayan Kabir
The state-owned oil, gas and mineral corporation - Petrobangla - has taken up an 'urgent action plan' to mitigate the prevailing gas shortage in the country and at the same time meet future needs.
The urgent action plan, when executed, would enable Petrobangla to add 750-900 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCF/D) to the national grid. The programme will be implemented within next 18-24 months, official sources said.
The local and foreign gas production companies are now supplying about 1,580 MMCFD of gas to the national grid against the current demand for over 1,700 MMCF/D.
According to Petrobangla sources, the ministry with the financial support of International Development Association (IDA), a soft-loan window of the World Bank, would implement the Petrobangla's action plan.
Under the short-term measures, Cairn Energy of Scotland will start drilling in Magnama and Hatiya areas located in the offshore gas Block-16 for hydrocarbon exploration. The company is expected to add the newly extracted gas from these areas to the national grid by end-April 2008, the sources said.
Besides, the US oil company-Chevron- also has a plan to supply additional 400 MMCFD of gas to the national grid by the end of 2007 from its different production fields at Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulavibazar, the urgent action plan of the Petrobangla quoted.
Under the production-sharing contract (PSC) with Petrobangla, the Chevron is now supplying around 315 MMCFD of gas from Bibiyana field, 167 MMCFD from Jalalabad field and 75 MMCFD from Moulavibazar field to the national transmission line.
As per the urgent action plan, the state-owned companies under the Petrobangla would augment gas production by 350-500 MMCFD within the next 18-24 months through new production lines and work-over in the existing gas fields.
The Petrobangla sources said the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) would drill wells at its Semutang and Begumganj gas fields and the Bangladesh Gas Field Company Limited (BGFCL) would work over at several of its old wells in Bakhrabad and Titas fields to augment the hydrocarbon production.
Besides, the Sylhet Gas Field Limited (SGFL), a company under the Petrobangla, will start new drilling at Kailastilla and Rashidpur gas fields after three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey reports showed the presence of new gas, the sources mentioned.
The Petrobangla sources said that the IDA would provide US$350 million in aid to conduct drilling and gas production from those fields. The gas production would thus increase by 350-500 MMCFD by the targeted time.
The World Bank has urged the government to implement those measures with utmost priority, the sources noted.
Under the Action Plan, the government will also invite tenders shortly from qualified international companies under the third-round bidding to explore hydrocarbon in the Bay of Bengal.