Gas crisis to drag on for several more months
Bakhrabad field well found dry
Courtesy New Age 17/8/09
Staff Correspondent
The gas crisis across the country will continue for several more months dashing the authorities’ hope for immediate increase of gas supply as one of the production wells at the Bakhrabad gas field was found dry and another producing a small amount of gas.
The Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company carried out a work-over programme at two inoperative wells at the Bakharabad gas field recently to increase production by around 20 million cubic feet of gas per day.
‘Of the wells, one was found dry and another producing only 2-3mmcfd,’ Petrobangla chairman Muqtadir Ali told New Age last week.
He said that they had become disappointed as their endeavour for immediate increase of gas production at the Bakharabad gas field was failed in the back drop of countrywide supply shortage, including the capital city.
The four-well Bakhrabad gas field, owned by the Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited, a subsidiary of Petrobangla, was producing around 30-34mmcfd in the last few years as two of the wells went out of production.
Petrobangla took an initiative to conduct a work-over (maintenance) programme at the two Bakhrabad wells and at an inoperative well at the Titas gas field to increase output of 50mmcfd of gas at the fields by June 2009.
It also planned to increase gas production by 50mmcfd from the Feni gas field, operated by the Niko Resources and the Meghna gas field, operated by the BGFCL.
Later, Petrobangla revised its plan to increase gas production by 100mmcfd by the December, 2009.
Making delay, it carried out the work-over programme at the Bakhrabad gas field last month while it was yet to complete the maintenance programme at the well-14 at the Titas gas field.
The country has been facing a supply shortage of about 250mmcf of gas per day as the Petrobangla currently produces around 1950mmcfd of gas against its daily demand for 2200mmcf.
The gas crisis, which is persisting in the industrial areas for months together, recently hits many areas in
The city faces a supply shortage of about 30-50mmcf gas per day. This crisis would have been solved if the supply from the Bakhrabad gas field could be increased.
Petrobangla officials, however, said the gas supply situation in the capital was likely to aggravate further during the month of Ramadan as the demand for gas would be increased to operate power plants for generating more electricity to meet up its excess demand.
They said that the projected production of 80mmcfd gas from the three fields would not be possible by December 2009. The work-over programme at the Titas gas field is going on, but the drilling of two production wells at the Feni gas field will be delayed as the government is yet to receive a High Court order to pay the Niko Resources outstanding gas bills.
Although the Petrobangla officials said that they had a plan to increase gas production by 120mmcfd by next two years from the existing gas fields, but no significant amount of gas would be added to the national grid in next three-four months, they noted.
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