Private firm Intraco has signed a contract with Sundarban Gas Company Limited (SGCL) to supply gas to different industries in Dhaka and adjoining areas including Gazipur and Tangail.
Under a 10-year contract, the Intraco Refuelling Station Ltd will bring the gas from southern district Bhola in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) form by large trailers, each having 4000 cubic meter and sell it to the industries at Tk 47.50 per unit (1000 cubic feet).
Addressing the contract signing ceremony at a city hotel on Sunday, both Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq Elahi Chowdhury and State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid laid highest emphasis on ensuring safety of the supply.
“You have to ensure all necessary compliances in supplying the gas to the industries,” said Dr Tawfiq Elahi Chowdhury.
Nasrul Hamid said Bhola area is showing a huge prospects of natural gas reserve.
“Already the gas resources found in different gas fields in fields in Bhola district,” he said.
With Energy secretary Dr Khairuzzaman Majumder in the chair, the function was also addressed by Bhola area parliament member Ali Azam, Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker, SGCL managing director Tofael Ahmed and Intraco CNG’s managing director Md Read Ali.
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.
Both the Bapex and SGCL are subsidiaries of the state-owned Petrobangla, the principal petroleum corporation responsible for dealing with both upstream and downstream production and supply.
Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker said the surplus gas from Bhola fields will be supplied to factories in Dhaka, Gazipur, Tangail and Mymensingh's Bhaluka from early June this year.
He said mainly those industries which experience low pressure will use this gas to improve their supply.
The Intraco Refuelling Station has been selected for the contract under the Promot Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act, 2010.
Currently, about 2300 mmcfd gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in the country, while about 700 mmcfd gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 1000 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.
At present, the rate of compressed natural gas (CNG) is Tk43 per unit (1 cubic metre), including Tk35 as the feed gas price and Tk8 as the operating margin.
But due to compression, transportation and then depressurisation, alongside different other charges, the price for Bhola gas might cost over Tk47.50 per unit, said the officials.