Gas production to rise by 75mmcfd by Dec

Country's overall natural gas production is going to get a boost by 75 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) by next December as a government agency has planned drilling five development and one work-over wells to this end.  
The planned enhancement accounts for a 2.77 per cent rise in total output of the fossil fuel in the country.    
State-run Petrobangla has taken up the plan under government initiative to enhance production to meet the rising demand, said officials.
"Of the total wells, three development wells and a work-over well would be drilled in state-owned gas fields and two development wells in the international oil company (IOC)-operated gas field over the next four months," a senior Petrobangla official said.
Three development wells owned by Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd, or Bapex, are set to add 10mmcfd, 15mmcfd, and 20mmcfd gas respectively on completion of the drilling works, he said.
The wells are Salda-4, Sundalpur-2 and Srikail-4.
Titas-21 gas well owned by state-run Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd (BGFCL) is estimated to add production by 20mmcfd after work-over, said the official.
Singapore's KrisEnergy-operated Bangora-6 and Bangora-7 wells are set to add natural gas production by 10mmcfd in total on completion of the drilling of development wells there.
Bangladesh currently has a total of 26 discovered natural gas fields of which 20 are producing gas from a total of 98 producing wells, according to Petrobangla data.
The country's overall natural gas production hovers around 2,700mmcfd against a known demand for over 3,200mmcfd.
Gas shortages in Bangladesh have prompted Petrobangla to ration new connections to industries, fertilizer factories and power plants since June 2009. This energy constraint hinders potential economic growth.
mazizur.rahman@outlook.com