Dhaka: Petrobangla officials today announced that an additional 5 to 6 million cubic feet of gas per day is expected to be extracted from a newly explored well in Sylhet’s Kailashtila gas field and added to the national gas grid by next week.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the discovery in the Kailashtila-1 gas well, located in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet, follows a workover of the first well. Tariqul Islam Khan, a spokesman for Petrobangla, stated that the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX), a major subsidiary of Petrobangla, is currently undertaking “workover” activities. These activities aim to restore or increase production from oil or gas wells.
Khan, who also serves as a deputy general manager of Petrobangla, highlighted that drilling and workover activities are ongoing at 11 wells, including Sylhet-10, Sylhet-11, Rashidpur-11, Srikail-5, Habiganj-5, Kailashtila-1, Beanibazar-2, and Semutang-6. Petrobangla has intensified its exploration programs, with plans to drill and workover 50 wells by 2025-26 and 100 wells by 2026-28.
According to Petrobangla officials, the Kailashtila gas field, discovered in 1961, has had eight wells drilled to date. From four of these wells, an average of 28 mmcfd of gas was added to the national grid in the 2023-24 fiscal year. The newly discovered well is expected to contribute an additional 5 mmcfd. The Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL) supplies the grid from the wells in this field.
The state-run entity oversees five gas fields: Haripur, Kailashtila, Rashidpur, Beanibazar, and Chhatak. These fields also produce condensate and NGL, along with octane, petrol (RON 89), kerosene, diesel, and LPG from its 14 gas wells. Bangladesh currently produces around 2201.67 mmcfd of gas, while the national consumption rate is approximately 2,900 mmcfd, with extra gas sourced through imports. Officials estimate the demand volume to be approximately 4,000 mmcfd.
Petrobangla officials reported that since 2023, re-drilling and workover initiatives in the closed Kailashtila wells have led to a production increase of 5.85 mmcfd of gas. In January, the workover project for the Kailashtila-1, Rashidpur-3, and Beanibazar-2 wells was initiated, and re-drilling of the Kailashtila-1 well commenced last August.