The government can drill two onshore wells with the money it spends to purchase one cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the international spot market, adviser for Power and Energy Dr Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said Thursday.
Speaking in an impromptu press conference in his office in the Secretariat the adviser stressed the need for ramping up oil and gas exploration activities to ease the country's perennial energy crisis.
Given the current international market scene, the government is required to spend around US$40 million to purchase one spot LNG cargo from international market, said sources.
He said that a move was initiated in order to reduce the dependence on imported LNG which involves huge foreign currency.
Talking to newsmen, Mr Khan spelled out a government plan to drill a total of 100 onshore wells between 2025 and 2028.
Until 2025, a total of 35 additional gas wells will be drilled, he said.
Of the 35 wells, 11 will be drilled by state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) and the remaining 24 through open tendering, he added.
The government will float an open tender to drill 26 onshore wells in different gas fields soon, he said.
The interim government will not award any contract on a G-to-G basis to any foreign company, he said adding, no contract would be signed without tendering.
Of the 100 wells, planned to be drilled between 2025 and 2028, some 69 wells will be exploratory and development wells while the remaining 31 will be work-over wells, he said.
Among the 69 wells, BAPEX will drill a total of 43 and the remaining 26 will be drilled by contractors hired through open tendering.
Energy Secretary Md Nurul Alam and Petrobangla chairman Zanedra Nath Sarker were also present at the press conference.
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