Gas found in Bhola North-2 well

The state-owned petroleum exploration and production company Bapex has found gas in Bhola North-2 well.

The discovery came at a time when factories and residences in the country are facing energy shortages.

It will be possible to extract 20 million cubic feet of gas daily from the well, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources wrote on its Facebook page Monday.

Bapex started digging on 5 December last year and found gas 3,528 metres into the well.

"A drill stem test (DST) started at 5pm Monday and the quantity of stock and daily extraction could be known after 72 hours," said Bapex Managing Director Mohammad Ali.

However, unless a gas pipeline is established from the island district of Bhola to the mainland, there will be no benefit from the gas found there to meet the country's energy crisis, said sources at the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla).

Last year, Bapex increased gas production by around 55 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) after drilling in some verging and marginal wells, including 20 mmcfd capacity in Tabgi-1.

The newly added production – which is around half of the country's daily gas supply from the pricier international spot market – was possible due to scaled-up exploitations, development and workover of wells.

Around 35 mmcf/d of gas of the extra production has already been pumped into the national grid while 20 mmcf/d is now on standby as the country's energy woes started to ease up compared to a couple of months ago, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.

After cushioning the LNG import shock, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division now says that another 217 mmcf of gas from 15 wells will flow into the national grid per day in 2023.

Besides, the division in its long-term plan targets ramping up the production by 618 mmcf/d by 2025 through explorations, development and workover of 46 wells.