DHAKA, Oct 12, 2025 (BSS) – The government has launched a feasibility study to connect Bhola gas fields to the national gas grid through two pipelines linking the island district to Barishal and Khulna, officials said today.

“The feasibility study is underway for the gas pipelines,” a spokesman of state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas Mineral Corporation, more known as Petrobangla, told BSS.

Petrobangla’s deputy general manager and spokesman Tariqul Islam Khan said the study was part of government efforts to ensure energy security through accelerated exploration activities.

Bangladesh discovered the first gas field at Shahbazpur of the southwestern coastal district in 1986.

Subsequently several more gas fields were identified while the latest discovery was made in Ilisha area of Bhola with authorities announcing it in October 2025 as the country's 29th gas field having an estimated reserve of 200 billion cubic feet.

Khan said works were underway to dig 19 more gas wells in the district.

Experts said bringing the gas to the national grid remained as a major challenge to fully capitalizing on these reserves while Petrobangla planned to construct pipelines to overcome the challenge.

Khan said Petrobangla would drill and conduct workover activities of 10 wells in Bhola by December this year engaging 10 rigs – five of them to be provided by its key subsidiary Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) and five by private companies under contract.

He said works were underway also to procure two more rigs for BAPEX.

Apart from this, the Petrobangla official said, BAPEX and a third-party consulting firm Sinopec of China were excepted to sign an agreement for drilling the wells in Bhola.

Petrobangla expects the gas extractions from the 10 wells to produce 127 million cubic feet gas for the national grid.

It took initiatives to carry out seismic data acquisition and analysis in respective blocks to identify locations of drillable wells with new leads/prospects in various blocks of the country.