Prospect of a new gas field at Jamalpur
Bapexs capability
of exploring and extracting new
gas field across
the country has to
be greatly increased
At a time when there are deep worries about depleting gas reserves, what could be a better piece of news than discovery of a new gas field? If the prospect of a big gas zone between Jamalpur and Shariatpur that has shown positive in the 2-D seismic survey becomes a reality, it would substantially add to the countrys natural gas resources.
According to a report of this newspaper yesterday this new field would be a 60 sq-km area under Block No. 8 that was given to Bapex, the state-owned petroleum exploration and production company. However, only drilling of wells in the area can confirm whether the area has gas underneath and the Bapex is planning to drill two wells soon. But before the act of drilling wells, the company also wants to make a concise seismic survey. Let us hope for the best.
But it is worthwhile to mention here that Bapexs capability of exploring and extracting new gas field across the country has to be greatly increased so that Bangladesh does not have to depend entirely on foreign countries for
exploration and extraction of gas. In the mean time, it is equally necessary to attract well established foreign firms for the
exploration work.
The natural gas reserves of Bangladesh, according to an estimate, are around 16 trillion cubic feet and may be exhausted after a decade. That is why impetus should be given to explore new gas fields and as, according to experts in the field, the middle part of the country, which is geologically known as the Bengal fore deep and hinge zone and is considered a lucrative field for exploration, efforts of exploration need to be concentrated here.
The gas resources of the country are very precious. According to Petrobangla, the country is currently producing 2,736 mmcf of gas per day, but it needs more than 3,500 mmcf of gas to meet the demand. Some time ago Petrobangla itself revealed that around 10 million cubic feet (mmcf) gas from the national grid is wasted for illegal use everyday. It is very surprising that while illegal consumers of gas is availing this precious public property, thousands of applications from genuine consumers have piled up at the relevant offices of gas distributing agencies. That is why the relevant entities ought to check wastage of gas seriously.
Due to misuse of gas, the government is also losing substantial revenue. Therefore, besides increasing work for exploration, the nation ought to make sensible use of gas by rooting out corruption from the sector.
