12.5mmcfd of gas begins flowing from B’baria well 

Titas Gas Field in Brahmanbaria started supplying 12.5 million cubic feet (mmcfd) of gas on Saturday from the Titas-28 well, Petobangla said.

According to the Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL), the drilling of Titas-28 began on 15 December last year and was completed on 19 June. Chinese company CCDC is working as the integrated drilling contractor for a four-well drilling project at the Titas-Kamta gas field. 

Three more wells to be drilled at Titas field to supply another 45mmcfd of gas

Speaking at the inauguration, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit said the addition of 12.5mmcfd from the well was encouraging at a time when the country was facing an energy crisis.

"We have taken an initiative to drill 150 wells by 2030 to become self-sufficient in energy. 

Drilling of 27 wells is already underway. Titas-28 is one of them," he said.

He said three more wells are planned at the Titas field. If drilling is successful, they are expected to add another 45mmcfd of gas to the national grid.

The state minister said the government is working to increase domestic gas production as imported LNG has become increasingly expensive.

"We are buying LNG at two to three times the price we used to pay. We do not have the capacity to bear this cost," he said.

He also said domestic gas companies had remained neglected for around one and a half decades, limiting their ability to contribute to the country's energy supply.

"We have now created opportunities for these institutions to work. That is why they are being able to demonstrate their capabilities," Amit said.

The government is also working to strengthen state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) to increase domestic gas production, he said. Two drilling rigs are currently being procured, while another is also planned.

Local officials are also being trained so they can undertake exploration and drilling activities based on their skills and competence, he said.

Md Ziaul Haque, Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, said the country is currently facing a gas shortage and meeting part of its demand through imports alongside domestic production.

"We are trying to meet our gas supply targets through such small initiatives alongside imports," he said.

Abdul Jalil Pramanik, Managing Director of BGFCL, said increasing local gas production is a priority as the country faces a major gas supply problem.

"Titas-28 is one of our initiatives to increase domestic gas supply. It is a shallow well. Our target is to increase gas supply through drilling deeper wells," he said.

He said drilling of the Titas-31 well is currently underway and described it as the country's deepest well drilling project.

Jasim Uddin Munna, Project Director for Titas-28, stated that the well has a wellhead shut-in pressure of 3,600 psi and a flowing pressure of 2,100 psi, with expectations of long-term gas extraction.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Brahmanbaria-3 lawmaker Engineer Khaled Hossain Mahbub Shyamol, officials from the Energy Division, Petrobangla, BGFCL and CCDC.