Petrobangla raises Bibiyana\\\'s output to 1,000 mmcfd

The state-owned Petrobangla has officially enhanced natural gas production capacity of Chevron-operated Bibiyana gas-field by 29.87 per cent to 1,000 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), a senior Petrobangla official said.
"We officially augmented Bibiyana's production capacity last week from the previous 770 mmcfd," he said.
Petrobangla enhanced Bibiyana's official production capacity following submission of a new assessment report by the US oil and gas giant Chevron, estimating an additional natural gas reserve of around 1.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in Bibiyana field.
The DeGolyer and MacNaughton carried out the reserve estimation on Chevron's behalf. With the estimation Bibiyana's reserve stands at around 7 Tcf, said the official.
It has been done to avoid the ambiguity, as there was a huge gap -- as high as over 430 mmcfd -- between Bibiyana's official production capacity and its original output, he added.
Bibiyana, however, has been supplying above the official production capacity at 1,138 mmcfd as on March 23, 2014, Petrobangla data revealed on Tuesday.
The country's largest gas-field, located under Block-12 in north-eastern region, initiated natural gas supply in March 2007 at the rate of 200 mmcfd. It was discovered in 1998 with an initial estimated reserve of 2.4 Tcf.
The pace of natural gas supply increase from Bibiyana was faster in recent times, as its production increased by over 200 mmcfd within the past two months from 1,000 mmcfd in January 2015.
Chevron Bangladesh is currently the largest producer of natural gas in the country, which is supplying around 1,430 mmcfd of natural gas. It accounts to around 55 per cent of the country's total supply from three of its onshore gas-fields - Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulvi Bazar - located in blocks 12, 13 and 14, respectively, in the north-eastern Sylhet region, according to Petrobangla data as of March 23.
Energy experts, however, termed Bibiyana's natural gas output as 'over production,' and urged the government to remain cautious in allowing Chevron to ramp up further output from the field.
    mazizur.rahman@outlook.com