The New Nation - Internet Edition

QUOTING highly placed source close to the government, the media reported that the government is actively considering import of gas from Myanmar to meet gas crisis in the country. This is reportedly going to be done as part of a bid to meet the shortage of power and gas by 2009. To this end, the government is also going to strengthen gas exploration activities in both offshore areas and the mainland. The Council of Advisers is expected to approve a production sharing contract (PSC) model soon to help expedite the process.

In the not too distant a past, certain quarters both in the country and outside were spreading a rumour that Bangladesh has a huge reserve of gas that would be exported to earn foreign exchange. Certain foreign agencies also put pressure on Bangladesh to export gas. Arguments in favour of gas export were not based on correct statistics about the proven recoverable reserve of gas in the country. Now the idea of importing gas has come to the fore as a shocking news. According to the Bangladesh Economic Review 2007, the proven recoverable gas reserve in the country was 15.189 TCF. Till date, the cumulative production being 6.793 TCF, the gas awaiting extraction stands at 8.396 TCF, which is likely to exhaust by 2011. Gas is used mainly for the generation of power, production of fertiliser and for commercial and household uses. About 90 percent of power generation at present is commercial from the use of gas. So, considering the recoverable reserve and the demand for gas, Bangladesh is now in an uncomfortable situation in respect of medium and long-term energy security. Unless new gas fields are explored and developed to add gas supply to the national grid, production of power and fertiliser would be difficult to continue and the national economy will be faced with a severe blow. As mentioned earlier, the remaining gas reserve is estimated to last only another three years if no new gas fields are developed. So, the government should quicken the process of exploration and development of gas fields.

There are a number of offshore blocks earmarked for oil and gas exploration, of which 20 are in the deep-sea with depths ranging from 500m to 2,500m. Exploration in these blocks needs to be started at the soonest. But the unsettled maritime boundary with India and Myanmar may delay the third round bidding process for those blocks. Reportedly, Indian and Myanmar maps of offshore blocks overlap Bangladesh's 5,000 sq. km in the deep sea. The demarcation of maritime borders with the two neighbouring countries should be pursued in right earnest to make sure that speedy exploration and development of probable gas blocks is not hampered in the process.