Petrobangla Chairman Engineer Md Rezanur Rahman. File Photo

DHAKA, July 30, 2025 (BSS) – The government is prioritizing increased domestic gas production by focusing on drilling and workover of existing wells, aiming to reduce reliance on expensive LNG imports.

 “We have intensified our efforts to dig more wells and engage workover activities for increasing gas production from domestic sources,” Petrobangla Chairman Engineer Md Rezanur Rahman said.

He said the government has been working to drill 100 wells and focus on workover of 31 wells to increasing gas supply to the national grid, adding, “We are working to increase gas exploration work in Bhola. Deep drilling (digging deep wells) work will be carried out. We’ve also instructed completion of a seismic survey for entire Bhola district by December this year.”

“We are now focusing more on exploration of gas. Work on four wells has been undertaken,” the chairman said. 

Besides, Engineer Rafiqul Islam, Director of at Petrobangla, elaborated that of the 100 wells, 69 exploration and development wells will be drilled, potentially adding 985 million cubic feet of gas per day. “Another 400–500 million cubic feet may come from 31 workover wells. 19 wells have been prioritized and are expected to add 277 million cubic feet by 2026,” he said.

Another director Md Shoaib said that six companies bought tender documents when international tender was invited last year for offshore gas exploration work, but none submitted the documents. 

He said later a committee was formed to find out why they did not submit the tender documents. 

“In addition, we are also working on Model PSC 2025 for onshore gas exploration,” he added.

The Petrobangla Chairman further said that two new drilling rigs for Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) are now under procurement process to accelerate drilling activities.

He said that the government is also working to set up a land-based Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, which he claimed is significantly more cost-effective than the existing floating terminals. 

Responding to a question, the chairman said that the government decided to discourage gas supply to captive power plants. 

The seminar titled 'Energy Security of the Country: Challenges and Way Forward - the Role of Media' was held at Petrobangla auditorium yesterday.

Energy expert Professor Dr Ijaz Hossain presented the keynote paper in the seminar, while Petrobangla directors AKM Mizanur Rahman and Engineer Md Rafiqul Islam highlighted the activities and initiatives of its subordinate companies.

Dr Ijaz said the country would need 4,600 mmcfd gas in 2030 to meet the ongoing and future demand.