Bangladesh faces shortages of natural gas of up to 200 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd) in coming months due to rising demand and the failure of past governments to find new sources, energy officials said on Sunday.
""We don’t have any magic touch to solve such a problem overnight, but we undertook a series of programs to augment the supply from our existing sources,"" said Jalal Ahmed, chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas, and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla).
""The inhabitants and industries in the country’s prime seaport city of Chittagong and neighboring areas are already facing a shortfall of at least 50 mmcfd gas,"" Jalal told Reuters.
The crisis in Chittagong has worsened as gas production from the country’s only offshore field, Sangu, 80 km from the town, has dropped to about 60 mmcfd from 120 mmcfd.
British firm Cairn Energy Plc. operates this field.
""It is normal depletion, but we have started an overhauling program to augment output as soon as possible,"" a company official said.
Another official said a lack of gas had forced the Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone in Chittagong to shelve a plan to set up power plants to provide electricity to new factories.
Bangladesh wants to cut poverty by 50 percent by 2015 but that needs economic growth of at least 8 percent a year.
""To achieve the target we must ensure adequate supply of natural gas for industries and power plants,"" said Abu Ahmed, a professor of economics at the Dhaka University.
Bangladesh can supply up to 1,738 mmcf of gas a day against daily demand of 1,833 mmcf, officials said.
""If the present trend continues, the gap between demand and supply will further be widened over the next five years,"" Jalal said.
Bangladesh’s army-backed interim government, which assumed power in January 2007, has been discussing importing gas through a pipeline from neighboring Myanmar.
The government is also examining a number of projects with a cost of 14 billion taka ($204 million) to improve gas supply from existing sources, officials said.
For example, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) is to begin drilling exploratory gas wells in various prospective areas, Jalal said.
Jalal said BAPEX would develop the Semutang, Begumganj, and Shahbazpur gas fields and would drill exploratory wells in the Kapatia, Srikail, and Sundalpur gas structures.
It would also drill two development wells in the Salda river gas field.
Officials said Bangladesh could add another 200 mmcfd gas to the national grid from the Bibiyana field in its northeast, where U.S. energy firm Chevron is already producing nearly 400 mmcfd, officials said.
""We could meet the deficit easily from Bibiyana but it was not possible due to a lack of infrastructure,"" Jalal said.
The state-run Gas Transmission Company Limited is negotiating with the Asian Development Bank for funding of $215 million to develop infrastructure.
""But to get results from all these measures will take three to four years,"" Jalal said.
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