Amid the country’s ongoing gas shortage, the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) has announced a promising initiative to explore a new gas well in Pabna’s Sujanagar upazila.
The state-owned company has begun developing the site after acquiring nearly six acres of land. Main drilling is scheduled to begin in 2028, and officials expect the field could contain enough gas to meet demand for around 20 years.
Although an earlier drilling attempt was unsuccessful, Bapex has undertaken a fresh project to drill a new well at Mobarakpur, considering the area’s high potential for significant gas reserves in the northern region.
This time, Bapex has signed an agreement with a Chinese contractor to overcome the technological limitations that hindered the previous attempt.
Officials hope that the positive results of repeated seismic surveys indicate the presence of substantial gas reserves at Mobarakpur. If successful, the project would create the first operational gas field in northern Bangladesh and could supply at least 20 years’ worth of gas.
Work to develop the project site is currently underway on six acres of acquired land in Kuripara village of Ahmedpur Union in Sujanagar upazila. Bapex said the main drilling operation is scheduled to begin in mid-2028.
Petrobangla Director (PSC, Operations and Mines) Md Shoaib said drilling was carried out in 2014 at a cost of Tk89 crore, with a target depth of 4.5 kilometres. The operation had to be suspended after reaching a certain depth because of intense gas pressure.
“We did not have the technology at the time to overcome the pressure and drill deeper, which is why the project had to be suspended,” he said.
Based on that experience, Bapex has now decided to use international technology to drill to a depth of more than six kilometres, he added.
According to project sources, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a mega project in December 2025 to drill three deep exploration wells at a cost of Tk1,136.25 crore. Mobarakpur is one of the three sites.
SAM Merajul Alam, project director of the Mobarakpur Deep-1 project and deputy general manager (Operations) at Bapex, said advanced technical capabilities were required to drill beyond six kilometres.
“For this reason, we have signed an agreement with CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Company Ltd of China. Under the agreement, the company will carry out the drilling and construct the rig foundation,” he said.
If everything goes according to plan, gas extraction could begin by the end of 2028. Based on preliminary estimates, officials believe the field could produce at least 20 million cubic feet of gas per day for 20 years.
Merajul Alam said land acquisition had been completed and development and piling work was currently underway at the project site. Drilling is scheduled to begin in mid-June 2028, he added.
Bapex Sub-Assistant Engineer Kamrul Islam said piling work, costing around Tk5 crore, began in July and is expected to be completed by December.
Sujanagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mir Rasheduzzaman said six acres of land in Ahmedpur mouza had been handed over to Bapex in March this year.
The current project site is around five kilometres from the site of the previous drilling project. However, officials said the wider area has significant gas potential.
Petrobangla first conducted seismic surveys in Mobarakpur in 1980-81 and found preliminary indications of gas potential. A German company conducted another seismic survey in 1983-84 and obtained encouraging results.
Bapex subsequently carried out further surveys in 2006-07 and 2007-08. After confirming the area’s gas potential, the company launched the drilling project in 2014.
Although the first drilling attempt failed, officials concerned believe that the use of advanced technology this time will produce the desired results and make gas extraction possible.
