The state-owned gas and petroleum exploration agency, Bapex, has come under fire following the disappointing results of the exploratory drilling of an oil well in Sylhet.
At the centre of the criticism is a 3D seismic survey conducted by Bapex which was the basis of the unsuccessful drilling effort at Kailashtila Field operated by Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL), a Petrobangla subsidiary.
Bapex’s failure, after a two-year effort, to find oil at Kailashtila Well 7 generated disapproval from experts and insiders who said the survey was a waste of money.
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex), also a Petrobangla subsidiary, recommend drilling at Well 7 based on its 3D seismic survey.
“After analysing Kailashtila Well 4, we thought drilling Well 7 would not be fruitful,” an official of Bapex’s geology division told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, asking not to be named.
This is not the first time that exploratory drilling recommended by Bapex has failed to produce results.
“Bapex did something wrong during the 3D seismic survey. That is why drilling failed to yield any oil,” energy expert and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology professor, Ijaz Hossain, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Bapex completed a 3D seismic survey covering 1,250 square kilometres at five gas fields – Bakhrabad, Rashidpur, Kailashtila, Titas and Sylhet – at a cost of Tk164.40cr with financial support from the Asian Development Bank.
Based on the data, the company proposed drilling at three wells in Bakhrabad, nine wells in Rashidpur, four wells in Kailashtila, three wells in Sylhet and eleven in Titas.
“We have not found oil at Kailashtila Well 7. We can produce around 10 mmcfd gas instead of the 25 mmcfd gas estimated by our survey results,” SGFL general manager and Well 7 project director, Md Haronur Rashid Mullah, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“Based on our survey, SGFL will drill at Well 9 of Sylhet Gas Field at a cost of Tk192.82cr provided by the Gas Development Fund,” SGFL deputy general manager and Well 9 project director, Md Abdul Jalil Pramanik, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“Another drilling project is on the cards. Drilling Well 9 will not be fruitful,” a former director of Bapex, who was involved in the seismic survey, said on condition of anonymity.
“There is no guarantee the results of the survey will be one hundred percent right,” Meherul Hasan, 3D seismic survey project director and a manager of Bapex, told the Dhaka Tribune.