The country's overall gas production over the last one year has increased by about 154 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) to 2486 mmcfd in December last week from 2332 mmcfd in the first week of January 2014, reports UNB.
According to a Petrobangla report, some of its gas fields decreased their daily production while some increased, posting an overall rise by 154 mmcfd.
In January 2014, the production rate stood at 2332 million cubic feet per day compared to average production of 1744 million cubic feet per day in January 2013. In December 2014, the production now stands at 2486 mmcfd, the report says.
The success rate in 2014 compared to 2013 is only about one-fourth.
Petrobangla officials said they are hopeful of raising the overall gas production by about 315 mmcfd in the next one year from January to December in 2015.
Petrobangla has so far discovered 25 gas fields in the country and 19 of those are presently in production. By 2015-16, the overall demand for gas in the country is estimated to be 3800 million cubic feet per day, the report says.
Energy expert and Head of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering of Buet Dr M Tamim attributed this poor performance in 2014 to insignificant initiatives for making new gas discovery in the country.
He said Petrobangla mainly concentrated on drilling of some wells by Russian contractor Gazprom which resulted in about 100 mmcfd gas to augment the production. The rest of new production came through the state-owned exploration company Bapex.
"In fact, there had been no major initiative for boosting gas production in 2014. Secondly, the suspension of onshore exploration by foreign companies was another major reason for no new discovery in the country this year," said Dr Tamim who had served energy ministry
special assistant to the caretaker government chief in 2007-08.
He observed that a serious stagnancy is prevailing in the country's energy sector for wrong policy decisions in many cases.
About Petrobanga's hope about 315 mmcfd gas augmentation in 2015, the energy expert said this expectation is made based on Bibiyana gas field's new production which may add about 200-300 mmcfd gas next year.
In addition to the production rise, Petrobangla signed three production sharing contracts (PSCs) with different international oil companies for exploration in offshore areas of the Bay.
Of these, one PSC was signed between Petrobangla and ONGC, one between Petrobangla and joint venture of Kriss Energy and Santos, and another between joint venture ConocoPhillips and Statoil.
But to get the results from these contracts, the country will have to wait for at least five years.
Gas production increases by 154 mmcfd in last one year
FE Team | Published: December 26, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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