Drilling begins at country's first deep exploratory well in Brahmanbaria to boost gas supply

Drilling has begun at Bangladesh's first deep exploratory well at the Titas Gas Field in Brahmanbaria, which is expected to add around 15 million cubic feet of gas per day to the national grid.

Petrobangla Director (Finance) AKM Mizanur Rahman inaugurated the drilling work at Budhal area of Sadar upazila today (19 April).

Currently, around 325 million cubic feet of gas is being supplied daily to the national grid from 22 producing wells at the Titas Gas Field, operated by Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL).

Gas is presently being extracted from a maximum depth of 3,700 metres.

However, prolonged extraction has reduced reserves and pressure in all wells of the country's oldest gas field, leading to a decline in production. In this context, BGFCL undertook a 3D seismic survey project to search for new gas sources.

Accordingly, two deep exploratory wells are being drilled at Titas and Bakhrabad fields at a total cost of Tk 594 crore.

The new well, Titas-31, will be drilled to a depth of 5,600 metres and is expected to take about seven months to complete.

The drilling work is being carried out by Chinese contractor CCDC. After completion, the well is expected to produce around 15 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Project Director of the deep exploratory well drilling project at Titas and Bakhrabad, Md Mahmudul Nawab, said, "According to the 3D seismic survey report, the well contains between one and 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. This is the country's first deep exploratory well."

"As the well will be drilled at a much greater depth, there are some challenges. However, if the drilling is successfully completed, seven more wells will be drilled here," he added.

Managing Director of Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL), Engineer Md Abdul Jalil Pramanik, said new wells are being drilled and workover projects are being undertaken on existing wells to increase gas production from fields operated by BGFCL, including Titas.

He added that the successful drilling of the two deep exploratory wells at Titas and Bakhrabad would be a milestone for the energy sector and would significantly ease the energy crisis.

Petrobangla Director (Finance) AKM Mizanur Rahman said, "A plan has been taken to drill 50 wells within this year to ensure the country's energy security."

"In the context of tensions in the Middle East, exploring domestic energy sources has become highly important. If the objective of drilling this deep exploratory well at Titas is achieved, the energy crisis will be eased to a large extent," he added.

Officials of Petrobangla and BGFCL, including General Manager (Operations) Engineer Ashraful Alam and Company Secretary Mozahar Ali, were present at the inauguration ceremony.