Petrobangla has ambitious plans to drill 100 more new gas wells

Petrobangla presented an ambitious plan yesterday to drill 100 new gas wells in the country aimed at boosting local production.

It unveiled the plan yesterday at a seminar with energy experts and other stakeholders concerned, though it failed to implement its previous plan.

The state-owned company said it will implement the new plan simultaneously with the existing ones. It also said it is ready to appoint foreign contractors alongside three local companies to fulfill its goals.

According to the plan by Petrobangla's Think Tank Team (TTT), 69 of the 100 wells will be exploratory and workover will be carried out in 31 existing wells.

Md Anwarul Islam, managing director of Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited, and Meherul Hasan, general manager (Reservoir and Data Management) of Petrobangla, presented the plan.

In 2022, Petrobangla initiated the drillings of 48 gas wells, with a target to add around 618 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) by 2025.

The company was supposed to drill 15 wells by December 2023, and 217 mmcfd of gas was supposed to be added to the national grid.

However, Petrobangla yesterday said it has completed the drillings of 11 wells, confirming 126 mmfcd of gas supply. Besides, the workover of three wells is going on.

Only 41 mmcfd of it went to the national grid as the rest of it was found in Bhola, which has no connecting pipeline to the mainland.

The new plan also involves Bhola, raising question of the plan's efficacy in adding more supply to the grid. No projects have been taken up so far to set up a pipeline to connect the district with the national grid.

In the new plan, Bhola Island will have 14 wells, while 17 will be drilled in the Noakhali, Chandpur, Feni, and Chattogram area, and six in the Chattogram Hill Tracts, among others.

Energy division secretary Md Nurul Alam said the government wants to implement both the plans simultaneously.

"We will go for parallel drilling. The Bapex [state owned drilling company] has limitations, but we can hire foreign contractors," he added.

Beside the onshore drilling programmes, the government is going for an offshore bidding process next month, he said.

Bangladesh has finalised the Product Sharing Contract (PSC) in September last year for offshore exploration.

Farid Uddin, former general manager of Petrobangla, said the company should set a priority regarding drilling projects.

"We should go for Chattogram Hill Tracts first as the area has high potential [in gas production]….India has drilled hundreds of wells in Tripura and found gas."

In 2011, a government report read that there were possibilities of increasing 400-800 mmcfd gas by overhauling existing gas wells, but no initiatives were taken in this regard, said Maqbul-E-Elahi Chowdhury, former member of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission.

Honorary Prof at Dhaka University's geology department Badrul Imam emphasised on a "third party evaluation" of every project's prospect and on technical auditing for successful drilling.

Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, said the country needs gas and the Petrobangla will be given targets to drill wells.

"The result will talk. If you [officials] fail, you will be removed. Nobody will be speared and no persuasion will be accepted against any failure."

Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker presided over the programme.