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Isa Khan

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State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (BAPEX) has launched a fresh exploration drive at Mobarakpur in Pabna, hoping to tap commercially viable gas reserves after an earlier attempt was halted over technological limitations.

BAPEX is preparing to drill beyond 6km at the site with a Chinese contractor, as repeated seismic surveys have indicated significant gas potential, said officials.

Site development is underway at Kuripara village in Ahmedpur union of Sujanagar upazila, with drilling scheduled to begin in mid-June 2028.

An earlier BAPEX project in 2014, costing Tk 89 crore, targeted 4.5km but was suspended due to high gas pressure and technological constraints.

“When the project began in 2014, our target depth was 4.5km. However, high gas pressure forced us to suspend operations. Deeper exploration required technology we lacked at the time,” said Md Shoyeb, director of Production, Sharing, Operations and Mines at Petrobangla.

“Building on that experience, we have partnered with a Chinese company to drill deeper than 6km at the site,” he said.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council recently approved a Tk 1,136.25 crore project for three deep exploration wells -- Shrikail Deep-1, Mobarakpur Deep-1 and Fenchuganj South-1. The government will provide Tk 909 crore as a loan and BAPEX Tk 227.25 crore.

BAPEX expects extraction to begin by late 2028 if drilling goes smoothly, with projected production of at least 20 million cubic feet of gas a day for 20 years.

Petrobangla conducted 2D seismic surveys at Mobarakpur in 1980-81 and 1983-84, while BAPEX conducted further surveys in 2006-07 and 2007-08. All indicated gas prospects.

SAM Merajul Alom, project director of Mobarakpur Deep-1, said land acquisition and site preparation were underway.

In May, BAPEX signed a $59.47 million agreement with CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Company Ltd to drill Shrikail Deep-1 in Cumilla and Mobarakpur Deep-1. CCDC has started work in Cumilla and will move to Pabna after completing it.

Six acres of land in Ahmedpur Mouja were acquired and handed over to BAPEX in March, said Sujanagar UNO Mir Rasheduzzaman Rashed.

“We have initiated a Tk 5.5 crore piling project for site preparation, which began on July 27 and is expected to be completed by December,” said BAPEX site engineer Md Kamrul Islam.


Two power sector projects were also approved: construction of a 100 MW solar power plant at Madarganj in Jamalpur and expansion and strengthening of electrical infrastructure in the Desco area of Dhaka.

The Ecnec further approved an infrastructure development project for Ramu Cantonment under the Ministry of Defence.

 

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Two service bridges of the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway project were opened to traffic on Wednesday, offering an alternative route between Dhour and Ashulia and easing traffic congestion in the area.

The bridges will remain toll-free both for now and future, project director Md Shafiqul Islam said.

The service bridges, which are separate from the main elevated expressway, are meant for pedestrians, cyclists, auto-rickshaws and other vehicles mainly from the local areas.

Road transport and bridges minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam inaugurated the bridges at a ceremony at the Ashulia end.

The two-lane service bridges, each 3.71-kilometre-long, will serve traffic in opposite directions—one from Dhour to Ashulia and the other from Ashulia to Dhour.

‘The main elevated expressway will have four lanes,’ Shafiqul said, adding that the opening of the service bridges would allow the construction work of the main elevated section to progress in the area.

The construction of the 24-kilometre expressway from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to the Export Processing Zone via Ashulia began on November 12, 2022.

The overall progress of the project stood at 72 per cent in July, while physical progress was 66 per cent. The project is scheduled for completion by June 2028.

The minister said that the expressway would ensure faster and smoother connectivity between Dhaka and the northwestern part of the country.

He identified utility relocation as a major challenge to the project, saying that the government aimed to complete another major section by December and bring the main project close to completion within the following year.

Bridges Division secretary and Bangladesh Bridge Authority executive director Mohammad Abdur Rouf presided over the ceremony with state minister for shipping Razib Ahsan and lawmakers SM Jahangir Hossain and Dewan Mohammad Salahuddin Babu being present, among others.

The project was approved in November 2017 at an estimated cost of Tk 16,901 crore and was revised to Tk 17,553 crore in June 2022.

Under its second revision in July this year, the Chinese-funded project cost increased to Tk 27,045.6 crore, mainly due to devaluation of the taka, re-engineering of the expressway over the Turag River, adjustments along the Dhaka-Tongi railway transit corridor and addition of new components.

 
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