Bangladesh Has 16.59 Tcf of Gas Reserves

Bangladesh has an estimated 16.59 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable gas reserves left in its 23 gas fields as of January 2012, and are enough to meet local demand for next 18 years at the current rate of consumption, Financial Express said.

Of the total reserve, 15.61 Tcf lies in its 22 onshore gas fields while the remaining 97.60 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in its lone offshore Sangu gas field. According to the latest estimates, Chevron-operated Bibiyana field has the highest recoverable gas reserves at 4.76 Tcf, followed by state-run Titas gas field at 2.99 Tcf.

The newspaper said that the country's natural gas production is now hovering around 2,160 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) against the demand for over 2,500 mmcfd. Bangladesh now has 80 producing gas wells in 19 fields, out of a total of 23 discovered fields.

The government is planning to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to cope with gas supply shortfall.

Petrobangla is set to receive final bids from four short-listed firms to build a floating LNG terminal at Moheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal on June 11.