To increase the production of gas, the government has decided to re-evaluate old wells and carry out renewed digging to find if they have any more gas.
If gas is found then new wells will be dug as per the permission of the department of energy and mineral resources. There is still a gas deficit in the country and Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) is being imported from overseas. Therefore, 11 old wells will be re-excavated.
BAPEX sources say that of the discovered gas fields, 34 are dry or abandoned with 18 faced with work suspension.
The 11 wells which will see re-excavation are: Kosba-1, Mobarakpur-1, Srikail-1, Rupganj-1, Sundalpur-1, Saldanadi-1, Muladi-1, Muladi-2, Semutang-1 and Halda-2.
State minister for energy and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid Bipu, said: “We are importing gas but are also trying to get gas from the existing wells in the country.”
There is gas in wells but we cannot excavate it due to lack of proper technology; if BAPEX can work in these areas with other companies then we will able to extract gas, the state minister said.
Talking about the well in Kasba, an official said: “We got gas from Kasba but it only yielded 3 million cubic feet and so it was decided by BAPEX that giving this gas via pipeline will not be commercially viable though this can be given locally.”
Terming tight sand as an impediment to gas extraction, the official observed: “Many countries raise gas despite the presence of tight sand using sophisticated technology but BAPEX does not have such mechanisms. But BAPEX is thinking about joint extraction with foreign companies.”