State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) is all set to start digging an exploration well at Mobarakpur in Pabna next month.
“Mobarakpur is a potential structure. Necessary preparations have been taken to start digging at Mobarakpur from the next month,” Ataur Rahman, director of the well-drilling project at the Bapex, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“Necessary preparations for digging well, like setting up rig and other necessary machineries have been completed,” he added.
Mubarakpur was identified as a prospective site after a five-year joint seismic survey by Petrobangla and German company Prakla Seismos was completed in 1984.
The cost of digging the experimental well, under the Mobarakpur Oil/Gas Exploration Well Digging project, has been estimated at Tk89.26 crore.
Ataur further informed the work at the well location, situated at Mobarakpur under Santhia upazila of Pabna, began in 2010 after Bapex acquired 8.8 acres of land for the project. The digging is supposed to finish within 90 days.
“We will dig with rig Bijoy-12 which has a vertical drilling capacity over 4,000 meters. We have plans to go up to 4,500 metres below the surface,” Ataur said.
Bapex is currently producing and supplying 105 million cubic feet gas to the national grid every day from its six gas fields in Saldanadi, Fenchuganj, Shahbazpur, Semutung, Sundalpur and Srikail.