Four onshore development wells at Brahmanbaria’s Titas Gas Field were to have been drilled by an international oil company between January 2010 and June 2014 but Bangladesh Gas Fiels Company Ltd (BGFCL) are yet to do it.
The gas project, Gas Seepage Control and Appraisal & Development of Titas Gas Field, had aimed at meeting the mounting natural gas demand by raising its output in the country.
The Asian Development Bank is financing a major part of the project cost. The total project cost is Tk 1000 crore.
BGFCL Managing Director Md Nurul Absar told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “The tenure of the project has been extended by one year and two more years might be needed to complete the project.”
Project Director Md Ali Moktazer, also BGFCL deputy general manager, said: “We have not been given the money allocated for the project on time and so we have failed to begin and implement the project within the stipulated time.
BGFCL Managing Director Md Nurul Absar told the Dhaka Tribune: “However, we are working to complete the project but to fulfill conditions of donor agency the tenure of project have to be extended.”
The BGFCL invited tender from global firms to drill the four onshore gas wells in the gas field last year. As per bid, two international oil company (IOC) Russian state-owned Gazprom and China’s Sinopec had submitted tender documents for drilling.
On May 15, this year BGFCL has sent the technical bid document to ADB for approval which may be approved next month.
After approval, one international oil and gas exploration firm will be recruited as a contractor to drill four Titas wells -- 23, 24, 25 and 26 -- as per a condition of the ADB. BGFCL aims at drilling Titas these wells to produce 120 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas.
Currently Russian Gazprom is the lone international oil and gas company engaged in drilling of wells on contract basis in Bangladesh.
