Finally, natural gas is going to be supplied to different industries in Dhaka and adjoining areas from Bhola in the current month in CNG (compressed natural gas) form.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid will inaugurate the launching of the venture by private firm Intraco, a leading CNG station operator in the country, at a function on Thursday.
The Intraco signed a contract on May 21 this year with state-owned Sundarban Gas Company Limited (SGCL) to supply gas to different industries in Dhaka and adjoining areas including Gazipur and Tangail.
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Under a 10-year contract, the Intraco Refuelling Station Ltd will bring the gas from southern district Bhola in CNG form by large trailers, each having 4000 cubic meters and sell it to the industries at Tk 47.50 per unit (1000 cubic feet).
As per the contract, local firm Intraco Refuelling Station Ltd will initially supply 5 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas and later 20 mmcfd gas to the private industries.
State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) is extracting gas from the Bhola field. However, nothing was mentioned about the rate of the gas to be sold to the industries.
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Both the Bapex and SGCL are subsidiaries of state-owned Petrobangla, the principal petroleum corporation, responsible for dealing with both upstream and downstream production and supply.
The Intraco Refuelling Station has been selected for the contract under the Prompt Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act, 2010.
Currently, about 2576 mmcfd gas is being supplied across the country in which 2076 mmcfd gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in the country, while about 500 mmcfd gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 14024 mmcfd.
The two Bhola gas fields have around 200 mmcf production capacity, while the production hovers between 80-85 mmcf.
Therefore, around 120 mmcf surplus capacity remains unused in the eight wells of the Shahbazpur and Bhola gas fields.
Due to the lack of pipeline and transmission facilities, the government was unable to supply the surplus gas from the Bhola field to other energy-hungry industrial zones in Dhaka and elsewhere.