Santos starts drilling new wells for gas next week
Guests pose for a photo with crests they were awarded at a function in Chittagong city on Wednesday organised by Australian gas and oil exploration company Santos to unveil plans to drill three new wells near Sangu gas filed in the Bay of Bengal in search of gas.Photo: STAR
Aiming to increase gas supply to industries in Chittagong, Australian gas and oil exploration company Santos will start searching for gas by drilling three new wells in Sangu gas field in the Bay of Bengal from next week. The plan was presented by Santos Bangladesh President John Chambers at a programme it organised at a city hotel here on Wednesday. The three wells, South Sangu, Sangu 11 and Sangu North East, situated in Block 16 in the Bay, would be drilled at a cost of US $126 million, he said. “We hope to be able to continue producing gas for a number of years to come if we are successful in this project and it will significantly help Chittagong solve its energy crisis,” he said. The present gas field in Sangu, 45 kilometres from shore, provides 14.5 to 16 million cubic feet of gas per day to the national grid, said sources. John said they hope to start drilling at South Sangu, around 5 kilometres away from the present gas field in Sangu, within next week after arrival of the drilling rig from Singapore. The rig, being towed from Singapore, is about to enter Bangladesh waters and should arrive at the site on September 17 or the following day, he informed. Presence of gas can be determined within one and a half months. Then it would take another one and a half years to set up a platform and the pipes to bring the gas ashore, he said. There is already a platform at Sangu 11, situated 1.5 kilometres to the North of the Sangu platform, and drilling would be held between November this year and January 2012, said John. Depending on the success, gas can be supplied from here after February, he added. Sangu North East is situated 4 kilometres away from the Sangu platform. But the drilling there would start after completion at the first two wells, he said. Lawmaker Abul Kashem thanked Santos for undertaking such a project though it is a risky investment and hoped it would help solve the gas crisis in Chittagong. He ensured of all-out support to make the project a success. Australian High Commissioner Justin Lee termed Santos as the largest investor in Bangladesh and hoped the project would benefit both Santos and the Chittagong industries. Terming Bangladesh as the second largest trading partner of Australia in South Asia, Justin said, “Our two way trade with Bangladesh increased dramatically in recent years. The trade was only US $ 300 million four years back while it was US $715 million last year.” Petrobangla Director (Finance) Rafiqul Islam Khan congratulated Santos for taking such an initiative to explore the new areas to increase the production of gas from the offshore which will aid the country's economic development. Petrobangla Director Mohammad Imaduddin and Santos Vice President ABA Siraj Uddowlah also spoke at the programme.
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