There are 22 found gas fields in Bangladesh of numerous sizes. The total reserve of 20 gas fields is about 26 Tcf (trillion cubic feet). Gas in the majority of the fields is dry, in a few fields it is damp. For instance at Beanibazar (16 bbl/mmcfg), Jalalabad (15 bbl/mmcfg), and Kailashtila (13 bbl/mmcfg). Currently, natural gas accounts for more than 70% of the total industrial energy intake and the major part of the future energy need would be met from it. Power sector ranks the greatest (44%), fertiliser sector ranks the second (28%), and market, domestic, industrial and other sectors together rank third (22%) in gas usage.
Currently 12 gas fields under public and personal sectors remain in production with gas supply between 900 and 930 mmcfg each day. Bangladesh has some oil reserves near Haripur in the eastern hilly district of Sylhet, however these have yet to be established.
The Haripur reserves are approximated at 40 Mbbl, and the total resource is likely to be much greater. The search of oil and gas in the area making up Bangladesh started in the later part of the 19th century through some isolated geological mapping.
The very first serious effort to find oil and gas was carried out in Sitakund in 1908 by the Indian Petroleum Prospecting Company. Throughout 1923-31 Burmah Oil Business (BOC) drilled two shallow wells in Patharia. The wells were deserted though there was a reported event of oil. An overall of 6 exploratory wells were drilled, the inmost being 1047 meters. There was however no discovery and the 2nd World War interfered with further activity.
After the freedom of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) was formed, while the Bangladesh Petroleum Act was enacted in 1974.
The offshore area of Bangladesh was divided in to 6 blocks, which were taken up by Ashland, ARCO, BODC (Japex), Union Oil, Canadian Superior Oil and Ina Naftaplin under production sharing contract. These companies 7 offshore wells resulted in the discovery of Kutubdia offshore gas field. According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Bangladesh had 2007 proved natural gas reserves of 0.39 trillion cubic metres, 0.21% of the world total, and 2007 natural gas production of 16.27 billion cubic metres, 0.55% of the world total. The 1980s saw accelerated exploration activities by Petrobangla, which drilled 12 exploration wells and discovered 7 gas fields. Among these the Fenchuganj well remains the deepest drilled well in Bangladesh (4977m). Meanwhile a new milestone was achieved when Petrobangla discovered the first commercial oil pool in Sylhet on December 23, 1986.
Read more: Bangladesh Liberation War Essay
Coal
Natural gas is the major indigenous non-renewable energy resource in Bangladesh. Gas production has increased sharply over the last decade so that natural gas resources are likely to be exhausted in 12 to 15 years. Considering the critical situation in power sectors, the government of Bangladesh wishes to produce coal from the Gondwana coal deposits because of the gradual increase in demands of electricity and to safeguard the energy crises in 21st century. Highly volatile bituminous rank coal has been discovered in varying amounts in 13 specific places of the northwestern districts of the country like Bogra, Jaipurhat, Rangpur and Dinajpur. Seven coalfields, among them, like Barapukuria, Phulbari, Dighipara, Nawabjonj, Shimnagar, Dangapara, and Burirdoba basins are found in Dinajpur district.
Three coal basins — Khalaspir, Baradgonj and Osmanpur — have been found in Rangpur district. Other two coal basins are the Kuchma basin, found to the eastern Bogra shelf, and the Shingra basin, found to the western frontier of Bogra district. The Shingra basin is the northern part of the greater Atrai basin (Chalan Beel). The Jamalganj basin, which is the largest coal basin of the country, is found in Joypurhat, close to the Jamalganj town. The Kuchma and Jamalganj basins were discovered in 1959 and 1962 respectively. It is reasonable to state that after the liberation war in 1971, there was no satisfactory advancement in discovering the coalfields in Bangladesh until 1985.
The Geological Survey of Bangladesh discovered the first coal basin in Barapukuria in 1985-88. The surface drilling confirmed the existence of a sequence of Gondwana coal-bearing sediments. The GSB has discovered the Khalaspir coal basin in 1987 and the Dighipara basin in 1995. The coal basins like, Phulbari, Nawabgonj, Shimnagar, Dangapara and Burirdoba have been recognised based on the negative gravity anomaly, a survey that was carried out by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh in 1992.
Based on the gravity-anomaly survey report of the GSB, an Australian company, BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary), completed the surface drilling and specified the existence of coal in the Phulbari basin in 1997. Other basins as mentioned above have not been considered for exploration, reservoir estimation, and feasibility study yet. The five discovered coal basins which have the most estimated coal deposits are Jamajganj (1053 million tonnes), Barapukuria (377 million tonnes), Khalaspir (828 million tonnes), Phulbari (about 500 million tonnes) and Dighipara (about 500 million tonnes).
Remember! This is just a sample.
You can get a custom paper by one of our expert writers.
Get your custom essay
Helping students since 2015
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download