Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL) has signed an agreement with Chinese firm CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Company Ltd. (CCDC) to drill two deep exploration wells—Titas-31 Deep and Bakhrabad-11 Deep—at a cost of Tk 594.25 crore.
The agreement was signed at a ceremony held today in Petrobangla’s boardroom.
Petrobangla Chairman and Additional Secretary Md. Rezanur Rahman attended the event as chief guest. The ceremony was also attended by CCDC representatives, Petrobangla directors, the project director, and senior officials from BGFCL and BAPEX.
Md. Mozahar Ali, Company Secretary of BGFCL, signed the agreement on behalf of the company, while Li Xiaoming, CEO of CCDC, signed on behalf of the Chinese contractor.
The project is based on a reevaluation of 3D seismic data initially acquired by BAPEX during 2011–2012 and later reassessed in 2019–2020 by BGP Inc., a subsidiary of CNPC.
Drilling targets include four subsurface layers within the Bhuban and Borail formations beneath the over pressure zone in the Titas field, and two similar layers in the Bakhrabad field.
The objective is to confirm the presence and extent of gas reserves at depths ranging from 3,700 to 5,600 meters. If successful, these will be Bangladesh’s first high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) wells below the over pressure zone—an unprecedented venture in the country’s gas sector. Reservoir pressure is estimated at 15,000 psi with temperatures around 390°F.
The drilling contract, worth US$49.52 million (equivalent to Tk 594.25 crore including taxes), was awarded through international open tender.
Following drilling, the Titas-31 Deep well is expected to add 15 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) to the national grid, while the Bakhrabad-11 Deep well is projected to supply around 10 mmcfd.
To help address the country’s energy shortfall, BGFCL has launched this initiative as part of a larger development project. The total estimated cost of the project stands at Tk 798.00 crore, which includes drilling, land acquisition, construction of gas gathering pipelines, and other related infrastructure.
Of the total project cost, Tk 558.60 crore will be financed through a Government of Bangladesh (GoB) loan, while Tk 239.40 crore will come from BGFCL’s own funds.
The project is scheduled for implementation over a two-and-a-half-year period, from July 2025 to December 2027.