New Gas Discovery in Aging Well at Sylhet's Kailashtila Field

Sylhet, Nov. 20 -- Petrobangla has discovered new gas reserves by conducting a workover on Well No. 1 at the Kailashtila gas field in Golapg...

Sylhet, Nov. 20 -- Petrobangla has discovered new gas reserves by conducting a workover on Well No. 1 at the Kailashtila gas field in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet.

The well is anticipated to provide five million cubic feet of gas daily to the national grid, according to the project director of the Kailashtila-1 workover, Shafiqul Islam.

The Kailashtila gas field, managed by Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL), consists of nine wells. Gas was initially found in Well No. 1 in 1961, and production took place—though with a short interruption—until 2019.

In 2023, workover procedures started on multiple aging wells throughout the country. With SGFL, workover efforts are currently taking place at 14 wells. Seven of them - such as Kailashtila-1 - have already been finished, and all seven have discovered additional gas reserves.

"Once the remaining tasks are finished, the managing director of Sylhet Gas Fields Limited will officially declare the discovery," he stated.

As per SGFL reports, the recently identified gas might be integrated into the national network in two to three days after all formalities are finalized.

Bapex initiated the workover at Kailashtila-1 approximately four months back. Gas was identified at a depth of roughly 22,000 feet throughout the operation.

Previously, on September 15, an additional eight million cubic feet of gas per day was integrated into the national grid from Well No. 3 of the Rashidpur gas field – another aging well brought back into operation by SGFL.

Thanks to recent additions, SGFL-run wells are now providing an average of 110 million cubic feet of gas daily to the national network.

On October 22, last year, natural gas was found at Well No. 7 in the Haripur gas field following the completion of drilling operations. The well is currently generating 7-8 million cubic feet of gas per day during testing from a depth of 1,200 meters.

On May 24 in the same year, Well No. 8 at the Kailashtila gas field produced 21 million cubic feet of gas daily during exploration, with reserves identified between 3,440 and 5,500 feet deep.

As per official reports, multiple active SGFL initiatives—such as exploratory drilling and well rehabilitation—are approaching completion. Should the anticipated volume of gas be discovered in the remaining wells, SGFL could potentially provide up to 250 million cubic feet of gas daily to the national network.

The continuous exploration and well maintenance initiatives are amounting to approximately Tk 600 crore.

On January 27, the previous year, a new natural gas layer was discovered in Well No. 2 at the Rashidpur field, with estimated reserves of 157 billion cubic feet.

Previously, on November 26, 2023, natural gas was found at Well Number 10 of the nation's oldest gas field located in Haripur. SGFL verified the discovery after finishing the drilling process.

PetroBangla speeds up oil and gas exploration to address the energy shortage

On November 22 of that year, the national grid started receiving gas from the previously neglected Well No. 2 in Kailashtila, increasing daily gas supply by 7 million cubic feet.

The Haripur field in Sylhet was the initial site in Bangladesh where gas was found, back in 1955. After that, several other fields were identified. SGFL now manages five gas fields: Haripur, Rashidpur, Chhatak, Kailashtila, and Beanibazar. Of these, the Chhatak field is no longer in use.