Bapex discovers country\\\'s 26th gas field

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) has discovered a new gas field in the country. The new gas field, the 26th in Bangladesh, was discovered on Saturday in Purbachal under Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj district. This has been the 26th gas field discovered so far in the country. An official at Bapex, a subsidiary of the state-owned hydrocarbon corporation Petrobangla, said the new gas structure is located exactly within the newly-declared Purbachal Residential Model City, an under-construction satellite town in Dhaka city's eastern direction, 30-35 km off the capital. The newly-found gas field has a possible reserve of 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas. When contacted, Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hussain Monsur said that gas was discovered today in the field to an underground depth of 3,332 metres. He said it is the 26th gas field discovered in the country so far. The gas field could supply 10-15 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas per day to the national grid, Hussain Monsur said, adding Petrobangla would need to construct 4.5 km of pipeline to supply the gas from the field to the national distribution system, according to a news agency.