North Sangu-4 block barren

CHITTAGONG, Nov 10 (bdnews24.com): Santos Bangladesh has abandoned drilling an off-shore block in the Bay of Bengal off Bangladesh's coast. The oil company announced that no gas could be found at the North Sangu-4 well in the Bay of Bengal Block 16 after digging 3,400 metres into the well. "Nevertheless we will begin drilling of 'Sangu 11' within four-five days to find whether it emits gas," Santos Bangladesh Limited vice-chairman (Government and Public Affairs) A B A Siraj-ud-Doula said Thursday. "The water pressure suddenly increased after hitting about 3,400 metres. The operation had to be declared abandoned due to safety concerns," he added, Siraj said Petrobangla, the state-run organisation, has also been informed about the decision. He said some 400 people, including 30 experts, are on board a new oil rig that had arrived from Singapore on Sep 18. According to the company, the Sangu-4 well was set to be drilled from Sept 17, Sangu-11 from Nov 15 and Sangu-1 from Jan 8. The company said the targeted dates to finish drilling are Nov 15 for Sangu-4, Jan 8 for Sangu-11 and Feb 22 for Sangu 1.