Gas output jacked up at Bibiyana as LNG and coal crises loom
SHAHED SIDDIQUE
Petrobangla has increased the gas production at the Bibiyana field to tackle the recent crisis in the country after the delay in the entry of liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the national grid and the much-talked-about disappearance of 1.44 lakh tonnes of coal from the mine of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL).
But energy experts are concerned that such overproduction will affect the gas reserves of the largest field in the country. It is absolutely damaging for us to increase gas production without reassessing the gas reserves in Bibiyana, Prof. Badrul Imam, an energy analyst, told The Independent yesterday.
According to the Petrobangla website, the Bibiyana fieldwhich US oil giant Chevron operatesproduced 1,340 mmcfd on 26 July 2018. After this date, no production data was available on the website. But on 7 May 2018, the production from the field was 1,251 mmcfd. On 6 July 2018, the production was 1,301 mmcfd. According to the website of Petrobangla, the maximum limit of gas production is 1,200 mmcfd per day. But now, on an average, the production totals 1,3401,345 mmcfd.
Sources said that recent brouhaha over the disappearance of coal encouraged the authorities to increase the production of the field without checking the possible negative impact on the reserves of the field. Petrobangla chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah told The Independent last week: We have increased the production for a short time to meet the crisis.
In a reply to The Independent, Shaikh Jahidur Rahman, communications manager of Chevron, said: Chevron produces gas safely and reliably under agreements with the Government of Bangladesh and Petrobangla. Daily gas production volumes from Chevron-operated fields vary due to operational requirements.
However, they did not give any reply regarding the estimation of the gas reserves and possible damage to the reserves of the field.
The government official said the gas reserves do not allow the increased gas production. In April 2015, Chevron Bangladesh officially informed Petrobangla that it estimated an additional reserve of about 1.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas at Bibiyana field, so that the new reserves increased to about 7 tcf. DeGolyer and MacNaughton (DM), a Texas, US-based petroleum consulting company, conducted the assessment on behalf of Chevron, based on the data accumulated from the newly drilled wells in the southern region of Bibiyana field in the countrys hydrocarbon Block 12.
At that time, in the report, Chevron also informed Petrobangla that it would be able supply more gas against 1,200 mmcfd by the middle of 2015, the officials said. But Petrobangla did not accept the offer to increase the gas production at that time.
According to the production sharing contract (PSC), operators can produce a maximum of 7.5 per cent of the total gas reserves of the field in a year. In this case, sources said, Chevron was violating the PSC. As geologists, we know the Bibiyana well pressure will fall drastically in 202122. But if we push it to increase the production, ultimately we will kill off the field and production will definitely fall in 201920. At that point in time, the country will face another crisis, Badrul Imam added.
Chevron always wanted to increase the production to maximise its profits. But I dont believe Chevron will damage the gas reserves of the field, Dr M Tamim, professor of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), told The Independent.
Cairn Energy, the then operator of Sangu gas field in the Bay of Bengal, had increased gas extraction to about 220 mmcfd in 2002 from 60 mmcfd in 1999, saying that the company reassessed the reserves and found about 1 tcf of natural gas, which was initially estimated at 0.45 tcf. The high rate of gas extraction, compared with the fields capacity, damaged its internal structure, leading to a premature death of the field by 2013. The same case happened in Bakharabad gas field, experts said.
I think the government is in a crisis as the imported LNG has not come into the market. That is a failure on the part of the government. That is why it is pushing Chevron to increase the production, Dr Tamim added. The country has been facing a massive gas crisis during the past five years. To meet the demand, imported LNG was supposed to be injected into the national grid in March 2018. But it is still uncertain as to when the gas will finally reach the customers.
Recently, government officials told The Independent: The US giant Excelerate Energy, which is setting up the LNG facilities in Moheskhali, is facing a chain of problems with the FSRU facility. Only a few days back, it was repairing the holes in the undersea pipes connected to the FSRU at the mooring point. Now, it is repairing the mooring point hook-up.
Now, though it is telling the government that the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will be ready to supply the LNG on 13 August 2018, the Petrobangla official does not believe the company as it had failed to meet its commitment earlier. As the government announced imports of LNG to meet the demand for natural gas, in the past year Petrobangla approved 3,000 gas connections for industries. On the other hand, the countrys sole coal-based power plant, BCMC, was shut down on 22 July 2018 after 1.44 lakh tonnes of coal disappeared from BCMC. After the incident, Petrobangla started to supply 80 mmcfd gas to Sirajganj power plant to meet the electricity demand in northern Bangladesh.
The country produces 2,749 mmcfd of gas (as per Petrobanglas website). Of that amount, Chevron alone produces 1,696 mmcfd. Last year, Chevron announced it was quitting Bangladesh, but later stayed put after placing some conditions before Petrobangla.
