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New Gas Reserve in Bangladesh Likely over 30 TCF: Survey
Bangladesh has a potential new gas reserve of around 33.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF), said an assessment summary on the country's gas reserves prepared by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), The Daily Star reported Friday in Dhaka.
The USGS assessment is likely to be "very close" to the assessment made by the US-Bangladesh joint study of gas reserve finalized last month, which was conducted by experts from Petrobangla and its affiliates and the USGS. The report is likely to be released next week, sources concerned said.
Referring to the survey, experts from Petrobangla and its affiliates said the assessment should not encourage the government to take any "commercial decision" since it is intended to be used in seismic survey and future exploration activities.
This study is not intended to "uphold the idea of pipeline export of gas" because it does not confirm that the country has so much of gas reserve. It should not influence the government to take any commercial decision on gas use, experts noted.
In recent years, International oil companies keep on pressing the Bangladeshi government to agree to export its gas to other countries through pipelines, but the government stands firm on this issue, insisting that Bangladesh would consider the possibilities of exporting gas only after becoming sure that it has a reserve for its own for 50 years.
According to official estimate, the current proven deposit of gas in the country is 13 TCF, which will be exhausted in 35 years under the current reserve-to-production ratio, while a deposit of over 30 TCF could easily meet the domestic demands for the next 50 years.
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