A new layer with approximately 157 billion cubic feet of natural gas has been found in the country’s Sylhet area, officials in the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources said on Sunday.
Preferring not to be quoted, the officials said the huge quantity of gas worth Tk 10,670 crore has been discovered in well No-2 of Rashidpur Well, which is operated by Sylhet Gas Fields Limited.
According to the ministry, the gas level was detected by testing the upper sand top zone through a well work over. From here, within the next 10 days, it will be possible to supply gas to the national grid at the rate of 8 million cubic feet per day.
Considering the current average price of gas, the price of 157 billion cubic feet of gas that can be extracted at this level is Tk 10,670 crore.
Talking to Bangladesh Post on Sunday evening, Md. Mizanur Rahmam, Managing Director of Sylhet Gas Field Limited confirmed the discovery of a new layer of gas, but he declined to share the details on it.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid shared an ecstatic comment on his verified facebook page on Sunday as saying, "We hope that we will bring more good news for Bangladesh in the future as the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave priority to oil and gas exploration".
According to sources, Sylhet Gas Fields Limited plans to drill seven new wells and seven well renovation/redrilling projects in 2024–2025. They have already completed drilling one well
and begun work on another. In addition to the finished re-drilling, another is in progress.
The country's primary gas reserve, including the stock of the newly invented Ilisha gas field, stands at 40.43 trillion cubic feet while the extractable gas reserve stands at 28.76 trillion cubic feet.
Currently, the average daily production of of gas 2300 million cubic feet per day mmcfd from 21 active gas fields and a demand of roughly 4,000 mmcfd.
Around 2,500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) were produced daily in mid-2020; by mid-2023, that number had steadily decreased to 2,150 mmcfd, according to the official source.
Bangladesh was added to the global gas map in the 1960s when the internationally recognized Shell Oil Company found five sizable, world-class gas fields there. Titas, Habiganj, Kailastila, Bakhrabad, and Rashidpur are those five gas fields.
Further new gas fields were found after Bangladesh gained its independence. But the nation's overall gas reserves have not grown significantly because practically all of them are relatively small in size. Large gas fields like Bibiana, which were discovered in 1997 in Sylhet, are further evidence that Bangladesh still has significant gas reserves.
One trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas reserves could be hidden in the recently drilled wells at the Bibiyana gas field in Bangladesh, according to information released at the beginning of the year by State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid.
This astounding finding, which coincides with Chevron Bangladesh's successful completion of its 27th well at the field, represents a paradigm shift in the country's energy landscape.
Furthermore bolstering this hopeful picture is the recently discovered Ilisha-1 gas field in Bhola district, which stands as the nation's 29th gas field and is projected to contain a sizable reserve of 200 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas.
The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources intends to drill 46 wells by 2025 in an attempt to increase domestic extraction, resulting in a 620 million cubic foot daily increase in gas availability. 17 wells are drilled till date according to Petrobangla. Petrobangla claims that Nine of the 17 wells drilling has already begun are fully operational.
Experts emphasize how important it is to explore and extract from offshore and onshore resources. A strong energy policy that includes exploring new sources, harnessing untapped wells, and optimizing resource use is necessary to prevent an energy crisis.
As of November 1, 2022, State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid informed the parliament that it will be possible to use the remaining gas for the next 10.8 years.
As of 2015, the natural gas reserves of Bangladesh was 14.16 trillion cubic feet.
