The participants praised the exceptional arrangements of Petrobangla Chairman Janendra Nath Sarkar. At their last age, they made a firm promise to work for the country without remuneration.
And those who came are none, all full of skill and experience. They have held the top positions of Petrobangla or its subsidiary companies at some point or the other.
Many others came from Dhaka University and Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET). They have also been associated with the energy sector for a long time.
Primary energy expert Maqbool-e-Elahi Chowdhury retired from the post of director (planning) of Petrobangla. He has served in the top positions of various companies including Barapukuria Coal Mining Company, Bapex, Maddhapara Granite Mining Company.
He said, this is the first time I have seen such an arrangement after retirement. Very commendable initiative! Such arrangements will be very beneficial for the state! I want to say from my side, I am ready to give free service. If necessary, call. Get me by your side.
He said, if you want success in every well, then it is not possible. If no gas is found in a well, if you pressurize it, no one will dare to work. Earlier the file could be signed by the DGM level officer; now the file goes up to the secretary and comes down in the same manner. Because of this, the work that used to be done in three days is now not done in three months. If there is such bureaucracy, oil and gas exploration is not possible anyway.
Maqbul-e-Elahi Chowdhury mentioned that Petrobangla's 100 well drilling project is ambitious but very important.
In response, the chairman of Petrobangla said, "We have brought it out of the dark ages." If the well fails, I will accept the responsibility as the chairman! I promise, there will be no departmental case or investigation committee against any official. If I succeed, I will take responsibility if I fail.
Former general manager of Petrobangla Farid Uddin said, I will come and give advice if called. The country has given me a lot. I want to do something for the country at my age. Create a core group, who will sit in BAPEX and work for the country. No need to hire foreign experts. There are many skilled and experienced people in our country, who are ready to provide you free services.
He said, I had the privilege of seeing the seismic survey of ConocoPhillips. They indicate 7 TCF of gas in the sea. Offshore oil and gas exploration needs to be started quickly.
Mortuza Ahmed Farooq retired as managing director of Bapex. He said, due to technical reasons, it is not possible to search for oil and gas in mountainous areas through BAPEX. Foreign companies should be given the job. There is a lot of gas potential there. Tripura is extracting a lot of gas from the same geological formation as us.
Professor of Geology Department at Dhaka University Badrul Imam said, if gas is not found in a well, it is not allowed to start commotion. If 8 out of 10 are dry, I will throw them away and then it is not possible. In Rajasthan, Unocol drilled 13 wells in a row and got dry. Then the headquarters of the company said, not to dig wells! But the geologist took a lot of risks and dug well number fourteen and discovered the largest gas field in India.
Professor of Geology Department of Dhaka University Anwar Hossain Bhuiyan said, if 25 wells fail, if gas is found in 26 wells, the price is very high. Several times the cost will come up.
Energy experts have been blaming the stagnation of exploration for the gas crisis in the country. Many were critical of Petrobangla due to its laxity. But that day has started to change now under the hands of the current chairman of Petrobangla, Janendra Nath Sarkar.
The biggest criticism was not digging wells, Janendra Nath Sarkar gave the first push there. 48 wells have been dug in the project, which has raised many eyes.
The 48 well drilling project is progressing rapidly. It will be completed by 2025. Already, Bangladesh has started reaping the benefits of that program. Bangladesh's capacity to extract 13 lakh cubic feet of gas per day through 10 wells has increased.
It was expected that production would increase by 10 crore cubic feet per day. 3 crore cubic feet of gas will be available more than the target.
Not just sitting here, after 48 wells, Petrobangla has planned to drill 100 more wells by 2026-28. For this, more than three hundred potential areas have been identified; from which 100 wells will be finalized after verification. A core committee was formed for this.
Based on that committee's report, experts were invited to Thursday's seminar. A somewhat similar situation arose in Petrobangla. Who spent the golden times of their youth here! Many reminisce, exchange work experience. They even highlighted how they were able to avoid complications step by step. Everyone welcomed Petrobangla's initiative. They also requested to organize such seminars from time to time.
They said, the experience of the old and the enthusiasm of the new will be able to move Bangladesh forward. Bangladesh has a lot of gas potential. For that, oil-gas exploration should be increased and oil-gas exploration does not require money. Many companies are sitting here to invest.
The program was inaugurated in the morning by Nasrul Hamid, Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
He said, all those who are outside should be kept together. We need gas and not criticism! Let's work together for the country! I want a constructive discussion.
Long-term stagnation is over. We want to run at bullet speed. We are preparing to break all past records. Exploration wells have been drilled in 112 years, about 99 and Petrobangla wants to drill 69 wells in 3 years.
On the other hand, new dimensions have also been added to oil and gas exploration. Until now, Bangladesh was stuck in a certain limit in oil and gas exploration. To put it more briefly, Bangladesh was trapped between the Surma Basin, ie, from Sylhet to Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Feni, Noakhali and Bhola. In other areas some exploration activities are going on but their numbers are insignificant. Petrobangla is going to bring radical changes there too.
The Chairman of Petrobangla said that the entire geographical area of Bangladesh is being brought under investigation. We are sitting with the map of Bangladesh. There are some areas that have previously had seismic surveys, marked green. Seismic survey will be done by identifying the areas which have not been worked before. After this, initiative will be taken to dig wells in potential areas.
A total of 29 gas fields have been discovered in Bangladesh. Daily (February 13, 2024) 2041, .7 million gas is being extracted through 111 wells in 20 gas fields. At one time up to 2800 million gas was extracted. Production has decreased in many wells due to dwindling reserves. 5 gas fields (Rupganj, Kamta, Feni, Chatak and Sangu) have been declared abandoned. 3 gas fields (Qutubdia, Bhola and Jokiganj) are closed due to lack of a gas transmission system.