Petrobangla Drills Up Plans to Meet Gas Demand

Petrobangla, Bangladesh's state-owned oil and gas company, is ramping up its drilling efforts to meet the country's growing demand for natural gas. The company plans to drill 118 wells over the next four fiscal years, with a target of injecting approximately 1,466 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) into the national grid.

The current rig shortage and sluggish bureaucratic approvals pose significant challenges to the execution of this plan. Petrobangla's exploration wing, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex), operates only five rigs, with three dedicated to workovers, leaving just two active for development drilling.

To bridge this capacity deficit, Petrobangla plans to procure a new 2,000-horsepower rig and is preparing a Development Project Proposal (DPP) for a 1,500-horsepower unit. The company aims to auction off project bids through international bidding processes.

Despite the challenges, officials are optimistic that the plan will help ease the country's energy crisis in the long run. 'To meet the growing demand for gas and align with the government's focus on domestic extraction, we have mapped out a 118-well programme over the next four fiscal years,' said Engineer Md Shoyeb.