Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) will start a 2D seismic survey in 282-line-kilometre area in some southwestern districts this month to explore onshore oil and gas.
Bapex Managing Director MA Baki told the Dhaka Tribune that the survey will cover areas of Khulna, Gopalganj, Shariatpur and Netrakona districts.
“We are hopeful about completing the 2D seismic survey by May this year,” he said.
The Bapex project, approved in 2012-13 with an estimated cost of Tk71.13 crore, aims at conducting 2D seismic surveys in yet untapped 1,800 line-km areas in Khulna, Gopalganj, Dhaka, Manikganj, Shariatpur, Munshiganj, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Tangail, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Madaripur, Netrakona, Moaulvibazar, Sunamganj, Habiganj and Sylhet.
The state-owned Bapex is the only company that has been exploring onshore oil and gas in the country since 1989.
In the field season of 2012-13, seismic data on 118 line-km has been acquired in Madaripur and part of Khulna.
Project Director Mohammad Nurul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that the survey consisted of three phases: data collection – survey, seismic drilling and sound recording, data processing and analysis.
So far, there has been no gas and oil discovery in the western, northern and southwestern districts, which cover more than half of the country. All the existing gas fields are situated in the northeast, east and southeast.
