Page 8 - AsianOil Week 15 2022

AsianOil SOUTH ASIA AsianOil

Bangladesh averts gas crisis

with return of Bibiyana output

PROJECTS & BANGLADESH has managed to avert a pro- work being carried out on the facilities and pro-
COMPANIES longed gas outage by restoring production at the duction fell to around 430 mmcf (12.2 mcm)
Bibiyana field, one of the country’s main sources per day. Gas was rationed to power generation
of domestic gas supply. Customers began to com- stations.
plain of a loss of supply on April 3. In March, Chevron Bangladesh made moves
Chevron Bangladesh operates the gas field, to drill new wells and expand production in
the largest in the country, where six wells Bibiyana, local media reported. This followed an
produce around 1,200mn cubic feet (34mn exploration study in 11 onshore blocks designed
cubic metres) per day. The company supplies to identify new hydrocarbon prospects. Further
numerous regions of the capital, Dhaka, and work throughout the block is reported to be
the surrounding area as well as electrical planned.
power plants. The report said Chevron is intending to drill
The problem contributed to a loss of electrical the Bibiyana-27 well and that if it is successful,
power, with the state-owned Bangladesh Power further drilling could take place.
Development Board reporting that it had to shut The field supplies about half of the coun-
down a number of power plants, which led in try’s total gas consumption of around 2.885bn
turn to load-shedding in different parts of the cubic feet (81.7 mcm) per day, according to
country. Petrobangla statistics. Local production in mid-
Chevron announced on April 7 that five wells March amounted to around 2.314 bcf (65.5
had resumed production and that the Bibiyana mcm) per day while imported LNG accounted
gas plant had returned to full operation with all for a further 571 mmcf (16.2 mcm) per day.
processing units working and supplies back to Chevron Bangladesh produces a total of
normal levels. The one well where the technical 1.397 bcf (40 mcm) per day from the Bibiyana,
difficulties originated remains offline. Jalalabad and Moulvibazar fields in Blocks 12,
Initially it was reported that sand had been 13 and 14 respectively. A 2015 estimate of Bibi-
discovered in one of the wells and had affected yana gas reserves is put at 7 trillion cubic feet
overall output. The situation led to emergency (198bn cubic metres).™
SOUTHEAST ASIA

Petronas reports first output from

Indonesia’s Bukit Tua Phase-2B

PROJECTS & MALAYSIA’S Petronas announced on April 14 processed by the Ratu Nusantara floating pro-
COMPANIES that it had achieved first production at its Bukit duction, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit,
Tua Phase-2B project offshore Indonesia. while gas is sent to an onshore receiving facility
The company’s PC Ketapang II subsidiary via a 100 km subsea pipeline.
produced oil and gas from the BTJTB-T2 well, Petrogas Jatim Utama, which is owned by
which had been spudded in September 2021 in the East Java provincial government, has an
the Ketapang Block offshore East Java and drilled agreement in place with Petronas to buy the gas
to a depth of 1,890 metres. Petronas did not spec- produced from Bukit Tua for local electricity
ify the volumes being produced by the well, but generation.
noted that it was part of a five-well development Petronas operates the Ketapang Block with
project. The company is aiming to produce an 80% interest through its two subsidiaries, PC
12,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) Ketapang II and Petronas Carigali (Ketapang),
and 30mn cubic feet (849,600 cubic metres) per while the remaining 20% is held by Indone-
day of gas from the five wells. sia’s Saka Ketapang Perdana. Petronas is also
Phase-2B is the fourth development project the operator in the North Madura II produc-
at Bukit Tua following phases 1A, 2A and 3. Pet- tion-sharing contract (PSC) offshore East Java
ronas brought Bukit Tua online in 2015, saying and a joint venture partner in six other blocks
at the time that it was its largest upstream project located both onshore and offshore in Sumatra,
in Indonesia at that point. Oil from the field is the Natuna Sea, East Java and West Papua.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 15•April•2022