Bhola Gas May Give Partial Relief To Chronic Gas Crisis

The government should immediately move to develop Bhola's gas prospects through a professional reserve assessment. If an international tender for constructing a 24-inch cross-country pipeline on an EPC basis is floated by June 2026, Bhola gas could begin supplying the Barishal and Khulna regions by 2030.

- By Saleque Sufi

BAPEX and IOCs should be allowed to conduct extensive exploration in Barishal and Khulna to identify additional resources.

Policymakers must rely on experienced professionals, not opportunists or fortune-seekers. Enough time has already been wasted. Bangladesh cannot afford to let Bhola gas remain stranded while the national grid struggles for supply.

Bangladesh's gas supply chain has been struggling with a chronic deficit for the past four to five years. The coincident peak demand of connected end users is estimated at 4,200-4,300 MMCFD. However, according to Petrobangla's daily production report, supply during 24 hours between September 28 and 29 was only 2,809.20 MMCFD. This figure includes 1,041 MMCFD of imported RLNG, while production from the rapidly depleting domestic fields connected to the national grid stood at 1,768.20 MMCFD.

Additionally, the Shabazpur gas field, which is not linked to the grid, currently produces 72 MMCFD for local use in Bhola. Gas reserves at Bhola, discovered by BAPEX in the mid-1990s, remain stranded due to the absence of a transmission pipeline connecting them to the national grid. The Bhola reserves have also not been professionally assessed.

In the late 1990s, US energy giant UNOCAL, under its proposed Western Region Integrated Project (WRIP), declared its plan to develop Bhola's gas prospects at its own risk. The project included building a 20-inch, 120-kilometer cross-country pipeline from Shabazpur in Bhola to Digholia in Khulna, along with power plants of 60 MW in Bhola, 100 MW in Barishal, and 300 MW in Khulna. Petrobangla and UNOCAL negotiated agreements covering PSC, GPSA, GTA, and IA. The teams jointly surveyed a pipeline route that crossed three major tidal rivers and multiple waterways, and the right-of-way (ROW) was finalized. The project's estimated cost was $700 million.