Gas production continues to decrease

Gas production has dropped gradually in the country with production falling to 2,000 million cf (cubic feet) per day now from over 2,500 million cf per day, resulting in a growing crisis of gas supply.

If production from large gas wells does not increase, the crisis may deepen further. And as the government focused on increasing gas production by drilling wells, gas reserves increased slightly.

Amid the existing gas crisis, production dropped from the three gas wells with the largest reserves. Experts said negligence and incompetence of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division is responsible for this. Production does not increase due to a lack of technical plans and modern technology despite the reserves. Reserves also near an end at the BIbiana gas field due to production being increased several fold.

The average gas production was at 2,643 million cf per day in the 2018-19 fiscal, which fell to 2,423 million cf per day in the 2019-20 fiscal and 2,201 million cf per day in the 2022-23 fiscal.

The last survey on the country’s gas reserves was carried out by an international company in 2010. The Hydrocarbon Unit of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division still uses it, creating confusion over reserves at several gas fields. As per the survey, the gas reserve was supposed to end at the Bibiyana and Jalalabad gas fields last year, but gas production is still in these two fields.

According to data from the Hydrocarbon Unit, 20.80 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas was produced as of January last and the reserve was 9.12 tcf. As the annual gas production currently, stands at 0.75 tcf, the remaining reserves may last the next 10-12 years. According to experts, it cannot be said for certain now how many years the reserve will last because gas production may fall annually due to the shrinking gas reserve.

However, officials at the state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) say gas reserve data available at the Hydrocarbon Unit is outdated and incorrect, and data is not being updated. Petrobangla collected the latest data on gas reserves from the gas-producing companies and sent it to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.

Regarding this, two officials of the Hydrocarbon Unit told Prothom Alo they use data from research. No survey on gas reserves was carried out in the country over the last 14 years. Meantime, gas reserves may fluctuate in various gas fields, but they do not have the data. However, data on gas reserves will be updated after the government approves the data compiled by Petrobangla. Besides, they have initiated the process of calling tender to conduct a survey by an international company, and it may take one and a half to two years.

Energy and mineral resource division secretary Md Nurul Alam told Prothom Alo they plan to maintain a conservative view on updating data on gas reserves. Wells are being drilled on the feasibility of conducting seismic surveys every day. Whenever and wherever any extractable gas reserve is found, it will be made public, and thus, the data will be updated regularly.

US multinational company Chevron operates three gas fields in the country. According to the Hydrocarbon Unit, the initial gas reserve was estimated at 8,383 billion cubic feet (bcf) at the Bibiyana gas field and the extractable gas reserve at 5,755 bcf. As of January last, 5,827 bcf of gas was produced from the Bibiyana field. The initial gas reserve was estimated at 2,716 billion bcf at the Jalalabad gas field and the extractable gas reserve at 1,429 bcf, while, as of January last, 1,632 bcf of gas was produced. Other than this, the initial gas reserve was estimated at 494 bcf, the extractable gas reserve at 428 bcf at the Moulvibazar gas field and, as of January last, 351 bcf of gas was produced from this field.

As per the Hydrocarbon Unit data, the reserve nears an end at the Moulvibazar gas field, and production was supposed to be closed at the Bibiyana and Jalalabad fields. Yet, Bibiyana currently tops in daily gas production with a production capacity of 1,200 million cf per day, according to Petrobangla. Authorities replaced the gas-extracting pipes with pipes with higher diameters in 2021 to increase production. More than 1,200 million cf of gas was produced from 26 wells of the field two years ago, but it dropped last year and currently, gas production stands at 1,000 million per day.

No official announcement is yet to be made on the rise in gas reserves in the Bibiyana and Jalalabad gas fields. However, Chevron filed a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission stating gas reverse increased by 481 bcf without mentioning any specific gas field.

Two officials of Petrobangla the average gas production in the Bibiyana field is 30 bcf, and gas production may continue for one and a half more years with the new reserve, but Chevron renewed the agreement on the Bibiyana gas field operation until 2034. They have to plan to raise the gas reserves by drilling new wells, and gas reserves may continue.

There are currently 29 gas fields in the country. The largest one of those is Titas Gas Field in Brahmanbaria, and state-owned Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL) produced gas from it. Another state-owned Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL) produced gas from the Kailashtilla and Rashidpur gas fields. Titas Gas Field has the largest gas field but falls behind in production.

According to data from the Petrobangla and the Hydrocarbon Unit, the reaming reserve of SGFL’s five gas fields is over 5 tcf, but their combined production is only 118 million cf per day from 14 wells. Gas reserve is about 3 tcf at the five fields of BGFCL, but they produced 546 million cf per day. Gas production may increase as two new companies are drilling new wells.

However, the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) raised its gas reserves. According to a BAPEX survey from 2010, their remaining gas reserve is 824 bcf as of January last. They also discovered three more gas fields, but production did not start at any of those fields. Besides, the gas reserve increased by 20 bcf at the Sundalpur gas field following the discovery of a new gas layer. As of May, the remaining gas reserve was over 1.5 tcf at all fields of BAPEX.

Energy secretary Md Nurul Alam said projects on drilling 50 wells are underway, and production started at several fields already. Another 100 wells will be drilled, and gas production will reach a better place in the next 2-3 years.

There is currently a demand for 3,800 million cf of gas per day in the country, and gas supply stands at over 3,000 million cf per day with less than 2,000 million cf of gas coming from domestic gas fields. The average gas production was even more than 2,500 million cf at the beginning of 2020, which was 2,200 million cf in 2023.

The government started importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2018 in a bid to meet the gas shortage. Currently, there are two floating LNG terminals. A deal was also been signed to construct a new one and a plan has been undertaken to build two more. Besides, three agreements were signed to increase the import of LNG and another one will be inked soon.

Geologist Badrul Imam told Prothom Alo that gas reserve estimation does not remain fixed all the time. In some cases, gas reserves may fall when new wells are drilled, but they increase in most cases, which is why data on gas reserves need to be updated regularly. It is unusual not to update the data in 14 years, he added.

He further said there are opportunities to increase production at three gas fields. Instead, the propensity is to import LNG.

*This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna