Business Desk :
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Monday said the trend of development will be continued through uninterrupted supply of energy to industries.
“The country has discovered a new gas field at Zakiganj in Sylhet, which is the 28th gas field,” he as the chief guest at a webinar on the occasion of National Energy Security Day-2021.
According to a ministry statement, the new gas field is at Zakiganj with GIIP (Gas Initially In Place) and around 68 bcf (billion cubic feet). Considering 70 percent recovery from the gas field, the extractable gas reserve is around 48 bcf. The country will get around 10 mmcfd from the gas field.
The state minister said that keeping in mind for energy demand in 2041, the government has been working to implement adopted plans aim at enriching energy system and management for the prosperous Bangladesh.
Wise and prudent statesman, the greatest Bangali of all time Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman nationalized five gas fields including Titas, Habiganj, Rashidpur, Kailashtila and Bakhrabad on August 9, 1975 with only 4.5 million pounds sterling, Nasrul Hamid added.
He mentioned that Gas Initially in Place (GIIP) reserve was 20.79 trillion cubic feet in the five gas fields.
According to the latest estimates, the extractable gas reserve at that time was 15.44 trillion cubic feet and the current price at $49.89 billion.
The state minister said that economical aspect is more than the financial aspects, adding, “Industries and employment generation were expanded for these gas fields. Moreover, after 46 years, these five gas fields contributed a total of one-third gas production.”
He said that the historic and milestone decision by Bangabandhu makes immense contribution for the country’s energy security.
“If the ongoing projects like single point mooring, ERL unit-2, LNG terminal, LPG terminal and oil transmission pipeline etc. are being implemented, a visible change will be observed in the energy sector,” Nasrul Hamid said.
This year’s theme-Let’s move forward in energy sector prosperity in the year of Mujib Morsho, Energy Security Day is being celebrated across the country.
Director General of Hydrocarbons Unit ASM Manjurul Quader presented the main article on Energy Security: Modern Context, Challenge and Way Forward.
Chaired by senior secretary of energy division Md Anisur Rahman, the webinar was addressed, among others, by parliamentary standing committee chairperson Begum Wasika Ayesha Khan, lawmakers Begum Nargis Rahman, Mst Khaleda Khanam, BPC Chairman ABM Azad and Petrobangla Chairman ABM Abdul Fattah.
Professor M Tamim, eminent journalist Arun Karmakar and Energy and Power editor Mollah Amjad were panelists of the webinar.
