Haripur oil well converted into gas well

Engineers and experts started perforation tests in the well (no. 7) on Wednesday.

This is the first such conversion in the country.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

They will go for 'flare test' (gas flow test) some time this week, sources said yesterday.

After the flare test and some other 'minor finishing work', the much talked well will be ready for gas production.

Meanwhile, 90 per cent work on laying a three-kilometre pipeline to link the well with the Hydro Carbon Recovery unit has been completed.

The rest of the pipeline laying work and other things will be completed within a week or two, they said.

"We are hopeful of making everything ready by mid-March. Twenty MMCF gas per day will be supplied to the National Grid from the well", said an official.

After several changes in the schedule, SGFL, a company of state run Petrobangla on 15 December last year started work on well no 7, which was kept sealed for 10 years.

It involved an expenditure of Tk 13 crore including a foreign exchange component of Tk 7.1 crore. State run drilling company BAPEX was entrusted with the task.

In 1986, the well, known as Sylhet # 7 was drilled with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB). Though the target was to drill up to 2100 metres, three gas zones were found and an oil zone was struck between 2009 and 2033 metres. The well was converted into oil well though it was targeted initially for gas production. It was the country's first oil well.

The well had produced 5.6 lakh barrel crude oil from December 1987 to July 1994. But, production had to be stopped in July 1994 due to a 'drastic fall in pressure'.

It was then sealed. Later, several decisions were taken to convert it into a gas well, but no step was taken until last year.

The well is located about 19 kilometres off Sylhet city.

According to seismic survey made in 1971, gas reserve in the Haripur structure is about 683.85 billion CFT and total recoverable gas reserve is 444.5 billion CFT. The present recoverable gas reserve in the structure now stands at 275 billion CFT.