The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has asked Petrobangla to prepare a realistic three-month roadmap for accelerating oil and gas exploration in the country’s onshore fields, as the government seeks to ease the ongoing gas crisis.
The directive was issued at a meeting attended by State Minister for Power and Energy Anindya Islam Titu, Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) Secretary Md Ziaul Haque, Petrobangla Chairman Abdul Mannan and senior officials at the Secretariat today.
The meeting instructed officials to identify ways to increase natural gas production from the country’s existing fields and accelerate exploration activities.
According to Petrobangla data, domestic gas fields currently produce about 1,622 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), while a further 711 mmcfd is supplied through re-gasified liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“We have a roadmap to explore 150 wells in onshore blocks in the coming years, so a total of seven rigs are currently working relentlessly to drill the wells,” an official who attended the meeting said.
The government has also instructed officials to draw up a comprehensive plan to develop the prospective Bhola gas field, the official said.
Bhola is estimated to have the potential to yield around 1.8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, he said, adding that the government is now focusing on the field as a priority source of additional gas to meet domestic demand.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of increasing exploration and production in gas fields operated by Chevron and other international oil companies.