Bangladesh Strikes New Gas Field

Bangladesh has reported the discovery of a new gas reserve at Sundalpur in southern Noakhali district.

Though small, the reserve  found by the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration company can yield 10 to 12 million cubic feet of gas per day and be commercially viable, Reuters quoted BAPEX managing director Mortuza Ahmad Faruque as saying.

The latest discovery by Bapex has been located at a depth of 1400 metres. An well is being drilled to assess its exact reserve and the pressure is good, said the report quoting Faruque.

Bangladesh has been facing an acute supply crisis, with gas production touching around 2,000 MMcfd  against a demand of more than 2,500 MMcfd. The country has about 13 trillion cubic feet of probable and recoverable gas reserves.

The country hopes to add about 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the national grid by the end of 2012, following a deal signed with the US energy giant ConocoPhillips to explore gas and oil in
the Bay of Bengal.