Grim prospect for govt's gas goals

This CNG filling station on Mirpur Road in the capital lies idle for lack of gas supply. The security guard takes a nap, while vehicles come only to leave the station without any service. The photo was taken at 1:30pm yesterday.Photo: SK Enamul Haq

The government is making a significant progress in the power sector by taking dozens of new initiatives, but no major headway came in the ailing gas sector as the country has not undertaken new gas exploration work so far.
In the last 22 months, overseer of the country's gas sector Petrobangla just took one new initiative to increase gas production from the existing gas fields on a fast-track basis. The tender for this fast-track job has yet to be completed.
In contrast, the government has already awarded contracts to generate more than 2,500 megawatt of electricity.
However, during this period, Petrobangla and its subsidiaries, especially Bapex, have been carrying out age-old programmes to increase gas production and explore new energy prospects. These programmes have been moving forward at a snail's pace.
Competent Petrobangla sources say the Awami League government is unlikely to see the end of gas crisis within its tenure because of slow pace in implementing various plans to increase gas supplies.
But the government aimed at making the sector crisis-free by the end of its tenure.
Unless national exploration company Bapex makes a major gas discovery in Netrokona-Sunamganj early next year, chances of overcoming the gas crisis within 2014 is very slim, even though US oil company Chevron is expected to double its production by then. The government will have to implement several major pipeline projects to deliver the Chevron gas which is now under planning stage.
One of the measures taken by the energy ministry to overcome the gas crisis is to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar through ships. It has taken up a project to build an LNG terminal in Maheshkhali, which would receive the LNG containers and transmit the gas to the national pipeline.
This massive initiative, requiring between one and a half billion dollars, is still far from implementation. A former chairman of Petrobangla is leading the LNG project and has so far prepared bid documents for a tender to build the terminal.
Bangladesh seeks to import 500 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) expensive LNG so that it could be mixed with the country's cheaper gas. This would ensure energy security to the country's existing gas consumers who are already hit by 400 mcfd supply shortfall.
Petrobangla Chairman Prof Dr Hossain Mansur said the project will be completed by December 2012. But other officials doubt that because of the present rate of progress, especially when the government would have to construct a 100-kilometre pipeline to transmit the processed LNG to the national grid.
The Petrobangla chairman said production and distribution of gas increased by 200 mcfd in the last 20 months. He added the supply of gas was 1,800 mcfd back in January 2009, which now has been raised to 2,000 mcfd.
According to well-placed Petrobangla sources, the supply hit 2,000 mcfd in December last year. This has happened because different agencies worked over some old or abandoned gas producing wells to increase gas production by 123 mcfd. Besides, US oil company Chevron has increased gas production from the large Bibiyana gas field.
In fact, if there were adequate pipelines to transmit the gas that is available with different fields now, the crisis would have been much lower.
Early last year, the Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) awarded contracts to transmit gas to the country's gas deprived western region. Till now, construction of these pipelines is moving at a snail's pace. But it should have almost been completed by now.
Petrobangla Chairman Prof Dr Mansur noted that Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (Bapex) has completed a two-dimensional seismic survey in Sunamganj-Netrokona region.
"We are expecting that there is a significant reserve in that area. A new exploration well would be drilled soon to confirm the reserve," he said.
Talking about the success of Petrobangla since he took the charge, Prof Mansur said Bapex has completed its first three-dimensional seismic survey, which is very important to have specific idea about the gas reserve.
Prof Mansur also said Petrobangla has finished discussions with two international oil companies on signing two Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for three blocks as part of the offshore bidding round 2008.
The Petrobangla chairman added initiatives were taken to strengthen the state-owned gas exploration company Bapex during his term. All the renowned international companies use modern rigs for exploration, but Bapex did not have the facility as it had only three old rigs. A new rig was bought for the state-owned gas exploration company in July this year that has the capacity to drill into 6,000 to 7,000 metres.
However, The Daily Star has been closely following the developments in Bapex and learned that all these present major initiatives were introduced during the caretaker government rule.
Prof Mansur said the gas transmission capacity has also increased during the period. He also claimed that the implementation of annual development plan of Petrobangla was 126 percent in the past financial year, the highest in its history.
Petrobangla floated a tender to drill four development wells in the existing gas fields under the Bangladesh Gas Field Company Ltd (BGFCL) a few months ago. A Polish company Cracao has been found responsive for the job. But it is alleged that the drilling rig of Cracao is almost three decades old, whereas Petrobangla sought a rig that should not be older than seven years.
Prof Mansur said negotiation with the Polish company on some issues was still going on and was at the final stage.
He rejected the allegation that Cracao's rig was three decades old. "Why don't those, who gave such information, go and see how old their rigs are," Prof Mansur said.
While Petrobangla went very slow with gas sector solution task, job satisfaction for officers at this vital state-owned organisation also remains low amid allegations of mass transfers and arbitrary promotions and politicisation.
But Prof Mansur flatly rejected the allegation of politicisation or mass transfers in Petrobangla and its affiliated companies.
"I have come here to solve the problems of gas crisis in the country, not to do politics," he said.
"Some people are there who support Awami League today and become BNP supporters the very next day the latter comes to power. These kinds of people create problems," the Petrobangla chairman added.