Bangladesh has decided to break the conventional 4 km depth for oil and gas exploration and will go to 6 km. In the first phase, it has been decided to drill one exploratory well each at Titas, Bakhrabad, Srikail and Mubarakpur.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told Barta24.com that we are going for deep drilling. It has been decided to appoint a consultant for this. The process has already started. We expect good stock to be available.
In Bangladesh, gas is generally extracted by drilling wells from 2600 meters to 4000 meters. However, some wells including Fenchuganj-2 have been drilled up to 4900 meters. Below the gas layer is solid rock. A three-dimensional (3D) survey by BAPEX suggests there may be gas layers beneath. In that 3D it is said that Srikail can contain 926 Bcf (billion cubic feet) and Titas 1 thousand 583 Bcf of gas. In all, reserves may amount to as much as two and a half TCF (trillion cubic feet). However, what lies below the solid rock layer, has not been seen by drilling wells. And until the well is dug, nothing can be said for sure. That is why Bangladesh is going to dig wells.
According to Petrobangla sources, plans have been made for deep drilling in 2 wells of Bangladesh Gas Field Company (BGFCL) and 2 wells of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex). These are BGFCL's Titas gas field well number 31 and Bakhrabad-11 well. Two of Bapex are Srikail and Mubarakpur. Bapex will invite tenders for appointing consultants. Consultants will work under them. Further action will be taken based on that report. Since domestic companies have no experience in deep drilling, they are more likely to hire foreign contractors to drill wells.
Managing Director of BGFCL Abdus Sultan told Barta24.com that there is a lot of potential in the psychic survey. That is why initiatives have been taken to excavate 5600 meters in Titas-31 and Bakhrabad-11. We expect to discover much larger reserves.
Former member of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, energy expert Maqbool E-Elahi Chowdhury told Barta24.com that the decision of deep drilling is good, it should be done. There is an over pressure-under pressure problem. It is very very challenging. This layer is located just after the hyper pressure zone. It took 2 years and 4 months to dig 4 thousand meters. Skilled and qualified people are needed to make quick decisions. Who will be able to make decisions as needed from the field all the time. In case of urgent need, they do not have to look at Petrobangla or Division of Energy and Mineral Resources. If there is an urgent need to wait for permission by letter, then the matter will be dangerous. Search activities cannot be done by DPP. Terrible things can happen if you don't give immediate decision here.
In response to the question about the possibility, he said, if gas reserves are found there, then a large reserve will be found.
But some consider it a luxury. Their point is that we have many places where it is possible to get guaranteed gas easily. Not going to all those places is wasting time and money.
Amjad Hossain, the former managing director of Bapex, told Barta24.com that the issue is very risky. And there is hardly a record of getting very good results by deep drilling. In India's Krishna- Godaveri basin, the water depth is 2500 meters and then 4500 meters of soil is excavated. In all, they have excavated about 7,000 meters. Tide Send 5 has received gas and can extract a maximum of 7 million. When Russian company Gazprom went to 6,000 meters in Azerbaijan, hyper pressure drilling did not yield the expected results.
Only 43 exploratory wells have been drilled in Bangladesh since independence. 160 bore wells have been drilled in the neighboring state of Tripura. They have drilled 160 wells and discovered only 11 gas fields, of which 7 are producing. 29 gas fields have been discovered by drilling 98 wells in 113 years (first well drilling in 1910) in Bangladesh border. Apart from this there are some fields like Mubarakpur and Kashba. In which gas darkness is found but not declared as not commercially extractable. For good reason, energy experts believe that oil and gas exploration activities in Bangladesh are still in the initial stage. Especially the deep sea and the western part of the country remain unaccounted for. Myanmar is extracting gas from our border in the sea, while India has discovered oil in Ashoknagar on the western side. Due to this, those who thought that there is no possibility of getting gas in the western part of the country (Rangpur, Rajshahi and Khulna region) have now become slightly active.