Samutang field to feed Ctg from Sept

The gas to be produced from Samutang field will be supplied to Chittagong division from next month, Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said yesterday.
Samutang is capable of supplying 20 million cubic feet gas per day (mmcfd) to the national grid, Towfiq said as he was visiting the gas field in Manikchhari of Khagrachhari.
He said the gas will be used for power generation and fertiliser production.
There is a daily demand of 385-395mmcf gas in the areas of Chittagong division where gas connections are available. But Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd (KGDCL) is able to supply around 225mmcfd gas, with a shortfall of at least 160mmcfd.
The energy adviser said Samutang Gas Field would go for production from mid-September, and the KGDCL has almost finished setting up pipelines from the gas field to Chittagong.
He also said it will be possible to supply 100mmcfd gas to the national grid within December from different gas fields and 200mmcfd gas by the end of 2012.
The director of Samutang Gas Field Development Project said the field has a deposit of about 150,000mmcf gas and is able to continue to supply the gas at least for 20 years.
The country presently consumes around 2,000mmcfd gas, with a daily short supply of at least 500mmcf. This shortfall is equivalent to one third of the country's electricity.
Brig Gen (retd) Muhammad Enamul Huq, state minister for the ministry of power, energy, and mineral resources; Sohel Rahman, secretary to the ministry; and Dr Hossain Monsur, chairman of state-run Petrobangla; accompanied Towfiq during his visit to Samutang field.
Earlier yesterday, the team visited the newly discovered gas field at Sundalpur of Noakhali before arriving at Samutang.
Gas at Samutang field was first discovered in 1967. The then Pakistan government did not extract gas from the field, as there was "no demand" that time.
In July 2008, the last caretaker government passed the Samutang Gas Field Development Project to begin production from it.