Staff Reporter, Sylhet/

Sylhet Gas Field Limited (SGFL) will drill one more exploration well in Rashidpur gas field. The project called ‘Rashidpur-11 number well (exploration well) excavation’ will cost more than 233 crore rupees. Initially, the project was to be financed 95 percent from the Gas Development Fund (GDF) and the remaining 5 percent from the company’s own funds, but now it will be implemented with full government funding (GOB).

For this, a new DPP (Development Plan) has been prepared and sent to the Energy Department for approval. This information was obtained by talking to the concerned officials of Energy Department, Petrobangla and SGFL.

SGFL Managing Director Mizanur Rahman said in this context, we are taking up the project of digging Rashidpur-11 exploration well in the new year. To overcome the ongoing gas crisis, the government has taken initiatives to increase production from domestic gas fields. A new well will be dug as part of this. If everything goes well, 10 to 15 million cubic feet of gas can be extracted daily from this well.

According to related sources, on May 12 this year, SGFL drafted the DPP to drill Rashidpur exploration well-11 and sent it to Petrobangla for approval. Later, on September 9, the Divisional Project Evaluation Committee (DPEC) meeting of the Energy Department decided to implement the project entirely with government funding. Also, the duration of the project is two years from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024. In view of this decision of DPEC, SGFL again prepared DPP. The new DPP was sent to Petrobangla after approval at the company’s last board meeting held in November. Later DPP from Petrobangla is sent to Energy Department for final approval.

Regarding the implementation of the project with full government funding, the concerned official said, currently the project of 1 thousand 314 crore 93 lakh taka is under implementation with the financing of Sylhet Gas Field Company and GDF. Loans to GDF, GOB and ADB (Asian Development Bank) amount to Tk 295 crore 97 lakh till September this year against seven projects under implementation under the company. Out of this, Tk. 20 crore 88 lakh has to be paid in installments including interest on GOB and ADB loans in the financial year 2022-23.

The official also said that the current wellhead margin of gas produced by the company is zero decimal 2028 per cubic meter. As such, there will be huge pressure on the liquidity of the company while executing the operating expenses of the company along with the repayment of loan installments from the income of gas sales. In this situation, if the project is implemented with the financing of GDF and the company, there will be a negative impact on the overall financial management of Sylhet gas field.

Currently, 44 million cubic feet of gas is being supplied to the national grid through five wells in the Rashidpur gas field. Wells are 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8. Apart from this, well number 2 and 5 are closed. SGFL plans to restart the shut-in wells through two workovers.