Gas supply from Rupganj field to start by mid-Dec

The tussle between Titas Gas, the roads and highways department (RHD), and Rajuk over the construction of a pipeline from the Rupganj gas field has finally been resolved, paving the way for commencement of gas supply from the field to the national grid by mid-December.
More than two-and-a-half years have passed since the Rupganj gas field in Narayanganj was discovered, but gas supply from the field to the national grid is yet to commence because of a bureaucratic bottleneck among the three state-owned entities. To complete the construction of the 6 km-long pipeline from the Rupganj gas field to the national grid, Titas Gas would need to build the line underneath a 140-feet wide road that would go through the Purbachal area, which is under Rajuk's jurisdiction. But Rajuk had refused to surrender its authority over the land to the RHD. At the same time, the RHD had informed Titas Gas that in  future, there will be projects under public-private partnership (PPP) in that area and that the presence of the pipeline will create problems. All other works on the Rupganj gas field project have been completed without much hassle. A processing plant worth Tk. 60 crore has been built on the field to supply gas into the grid, but it has been sitting idle for a long time.
The pipeline stretching over 2 km has also been constructed, but the project has stagnated since work on the 140-feet wide road near Purbachal could not be started because of the tussle. To find a solution to the crisis, the state minister for power, energy, and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, on November 14 held a meeting with officials from Titas Gas, RHD, Rajuk, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex), and Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD).  At the meeting, the minister instructed the representatives to resolve the issue immediately. Abdus Salam, additional chief engineer of RHD, told The Independent that after the meeting with the state minister, the parties had resolved the issue internally. “We sat with the Rajuk official and exchanged a part of our land for their Jhilmil project with the land near Purbachal, which has been earmarked for a 140-feet wide road in future,” he said. “No problem exists anymore. Titas Gas has already started constructing the pipeline, which will be finished soon,” he added.
Titas managing director Mir Moshiur Rahman said the pipeline's construction would be finished by mid-December. It could supply 10 million cubic feet (mmcft) of gas with which a 50-MW power plant could be powered or around 100 large-scale industries could be operated, he added.
The Rupganj gas field was discovered by the state-owned Petrobangla’s exploration wing Bapex. Industry insiders claimed that gas from the field can resolve the country’ existing gas crisis. In June 2014, Petrobangla declared Rupganj to be the 26th gas field in Bangladesh. The field may have a reserve of 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, which would yield a daily supply of 10–15 mmcft for around 17 years.

Gas supply from Rupganj field to start by mid-Dec

The tussle between Titas Gas, the roads and highways department (RHD), and Rajuk over the construction of a pipeline from the Rupganj gas field has finally been resolved, paving the way for commencement of gas supply from the field to the national grid by mid-December. More than two-and-a-half years have passed since the Rupganj gas field in Narayanganj was discovered, but gas supply from the field to the national grid is yet to commence because of a bureaucratic bottleneck among the three state-owned entities. To complete the construction of the 6 km-long pipeline from the Rupganj gas field to the national grid, Titas Gas would need to build the line underneath a 140-feet wide road that would go through the Purbachal area, which is under Rajuks jurisdiction. But Rajuk had refused to surrender its authority over the land to the RHD. At the same time, the RHD had informed Titas Gas that in future, there will be projects under public-private partnership (PPP) in that area and that the presence of the pipeline will create problems. All other works on the Rupganj gas field project have been completed without much hassle. A processing plant worth Tk. 60 crore has been built on the field to supply gas into the grid, but it has been sitting idle for a long time. The pipeline stretching over 2 km has also been constructed, but the project has stagnated since work on the 140-feet wide road near Purbachal could not be started because of the tussle. To find a solution to the crisis, the state minister for power, energy, and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, on November 14 held a meeting with officials from Titas Gas, RHD, Rajuk, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex), and Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD). At the meeting, the minister instructed the representatives to resolve the issue immediately. Abdus Salam, additional chief engineer of RHD, told The Independent that after the meeting with the state minister, the parties had resolved the issue internally. We sat with the Rajuk official and exchanged a part of our land for their Jhilmil project with the land near Purbachal, which has been earmarked for a 140-feet wide road in future, he said. No problem exists anymore. Titas Gas has already started constructing the pipeline, which will be finished soon, he added. Titas managing director Mir Moshiur Rahman said the pipelines construction would be finished by mid-December. It could supply 10 million cubic feet (mmcft) of gas with which a 50-MW power plant could be powered or around 100 large-scale industries could be operated, he added. The Rupganj gas field was discovered by the state-owned Petrobanglas exploration wing Bapex. Industry insiders claimed that gas from the field can resolve the country existing gas crisis. In June 2014, Petrobangla declared Rupganj to be the 26th gas field in Bangladesh. The field may have a reserve of 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, which would yield a daily supply of 1015 mmcft for around 17 years.