Bangladesh will commence gas exploration drilling in its maritime areas on Wednesday.
The SS-4 or Shallow Sea-4 block, located offshore in the Bay of Bengal, will be drilled under Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) by Indian state-owned ONGC Videsh Ltd, Oil India Ltd, and Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) (Bapex).
The drilling could aid the country, which has been battling severe gas shortages due to limited output from existing onshore gas reserves, according to media reports.
Finding gas will enhance domestic production and minimize reliance on expensive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Md Anisur Rahman, senior secretary of the energy division in the Ministry of Energy, Power and Mineral Resources, told The Business Standard.
“Because of the worldwide pandemic, the drilling was postponed for a year. International oil firms (IOCs) would now be able to look for oil and gas in the shallow waters,” he added.
ONGC would drill 4,000 metres beneath the block, according to officials from the Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) (Petrobangla).
The company aims to drill again on this block in the middle of next year, sources added.
