Gas found in Comilla Reserve seems medium in size; Bapex plans to supply gas from early next year

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (Bapex) hit a natural gas reservoir at Srikail in Comilla yesterday, seven years after a failed attempt in the area.
Bapex Managing Director Mortuza Ahmad Faruque believes the reservoir might be medium in size but bigger than the Sangu and Semutang gas fields.
He said they had found a gas flow at the rate of 15 to 16 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) with a pressure of 1,900 pounds per square inch (psi) during a test run in an exploratory well in Srikail in the morning.
The Bapex chief expects the gas pressure would reach up to 2,700 psi at the well head when the field is ready for commercial production.
He said Bapex had resources almost ready to produce 25 to 30 mmcfd of gas from DecemberJanuary.
The country is now at least 500 mmcfd gas short in supply which is affecting the power generation and burner usage in homes. This discovery is considered big, but it would not solve the crisis entirely.
This is the second gas discovery in the present government's tenure. The first one, discovered last year also by Bapex, is in Sundalpur of Noakhali. The small field has been producing 10 to 12 mmcfd gas for the last few months.
The lone national exploration wing that presently produces 85 to 90 mmcfd gas from different small gas fields, tried to find gas in Srikail in 2005. But instead of gas, it found water and sand in the first exploratory well.
In 2007, Bapex conducted a seismic survey to understand the prospects better. Upon completion, it prepared a project to drill a new exploratory well. Accordingly, it started drilling a well on May 5 this year and completed the task of drilling up to 3,214 metres on June 30, in less than two months.
It started testing the well from July 12.
“We started getting gas from a depth of 3,020 metres. The gas layer is 15 metres thick. We have found another layer 2,970 metres below the ground which will be tested later,” said the Bapex MD.
Bapex will conduct a three dimensional seismic survey there in October to properly assess the size of the gas field. It will drill more wells based on the study.
“To avail this gas commercially, we will need a gas processing plant and install a three-kilometre feeder pipeline to connect the Srikail field with the nearby gas transmission system of Bakhrabad fields,” the MD said.
Since installing a processing plant is time consuming, Bapex plans to create a makeshift arrangement to process the gas through alternative means.
“We were approved of a project cost amounting to Tk 81 crore. Of this, Tk 60 crore has been spent on drilling and with the remaining funds we can easily go for an early commercial production,” Faruque said.
For Bapex, this is the most productive period. Right now, all its five drilling rigs are in operation in different locations.
“One rig is ready to start drilling in Sunetra from July 16,” he said.
Sunetra in Sunamganj-Netrakona is Bapex's biggest hope. Based on a seismic study, Bapex believes it has a gas structure with the promise of getting no less than two to three trillion cubic feet reserve.
Another rig is ready to start drilling the 17th well of the country's biggest and oldest gas field Titas. Two other rigs are now drilling in Salda and Kailastila fields.

One Bangladeshi youth was killed and another injured in South Africa's Cape Town as robbers stormed their shop and opened fire early on Thursday.
Four armed men entered the shop and opened fire on the owner, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete was quoted by a South African online news site ioL (Independent Online).
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of money and airtime and fled, added Cloete.
Dead Rabiul and injured Mizan are from Ladua village under Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. They went to Cape Town 18 months ago and jointly opened a department store.
This is the second incident of killing of Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa within a week. Three Bangladeshi businessmen were shot dead by criminals on July 5 in the country.
The family of Thursday's victim came to know about the incident yesterday morning when an expatriate, Shipon, called them from Cape Town.
The armed goons stormed the shop around South Africa time 10:00pm on Wednesday (Bangladesh time around 3:00am on Thursday) and started shooting, said Rabiul's brother Zaidul Hossain quoting Shipon.
Rabiul was hit in the head and died instantly while Mizan was hit in the hand and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Zaidul added.

One Bangladeshi youth was killed and another injured in South Africa's Cape Town as robbers stormed their shop and opened fire early on Thursday.
Four armed men entered the shop and opened fire on the owner, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete was quoted by a South African online news site ioL (Independent Online).
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of money and airtime and fled, added Cloete.
Dead Rabiul and injured Mizan are from Ladua village under Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. They went to Cape Town 18 months ago and jointly opened a department store.
This is the second incident of killing of Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa within a week. Three Bangladeshi businessmen were shot dead by criminals on July 5 in the country.
The family of Thursday's victim came to know about the incident yesterday morning when an expatriate, Shipon, called them from Cape Town.
The armed goons stormed the shop around South Africa time 10:00pm on Wednesday (Bangladesh time around 3:00am on Thursday) and started shooting, said Rabiul's brother Zaidul Hossain quoting Shipon.
Rabiul was hit in the head and died instantly while Mizan was hit in the hand and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Zaidul added.

One Bangladeshi youth was killed and another injured in South Africa's Cape Town as robbers stormed their shop and opened fire early on Thursday.
Four armed men entered the shop and opened fire on the owner, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete was quoted by a South African online news site ioL (Independent Online).
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of money and airtime and fled, added Cloete.
Dead Rabiul and injured Mizan are from Ladua village under Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. They went to Cape Town 18 months ago and jointly opened a department store.
This is the second incident of killing of Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa within a week. Three Bangladeshi businessmen were shot dead by criminals on July 5 in the country.
The family of Thursday's victim came to know about the incident yesterday morning when an expatriate, Shipon, called them from Cape Town.
The armed goons stormed the shop around South Africa time 10:00pm on Wednesday (Bangladesh time around 3:00am on Thursday) and started shooting, said Rabiul's brother Zaidul Hossain quoting Shipon.
Rabiul was hit in the head and died instantly while Mizan was hit in the hand and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Zaidul added.

Veggies too costly Prices spiral up to 40pc for 2-day truck strike

The prices of vegetables in the city markets soared in the last two days, in some cases up to 40 percent, due to a 48-hour countrywide strike enforced by the truck and covered-van owners.
The strike that ended yesterday morning has created a supply crunch at the city's wholesale kitchen markets since most of the vehicles refrained from transporting goods to the capital.
The prices of green chilli, bitter gourd, ladies finger and cucumber shot up yesterday besides a slight increase in prices of sugar and soybean oil.
“Today I bought 5kg bitter gourd at Tk 120, which was Tk 100 a day ago at Shyambazar,” said Ismail Hawlader, a vegetable vendor at Wari of Old Dhaka.
“So I am selling each kg bitter gourd at Tk 30 to make a reasonable profit,” he said. The prices of cucumber and ladies finger also went up yesterday due to supply shortage, he added.
Retailers at Karwan Bazar kitchen market were charging Tk 25 for a kg of ladies finger instead of Tk 20 two days ago.
"The prices of vegetables are too high for the ordinary people,'' said Md Abdul Majid, a retired government official, who was buying goods from a roadside kitchen market near the Azimpur Chhapra Mosque.
“I bought one kg green chilli at Tk 80 yesterday, which was Tk 50 a week ago,” said Majid.
Department of Agricultural Marketing said one kg green chilli was traded at Tk 40-70 yesterday.
To help boost supply during the month of Ramadan, the government on Monday imposed a ban on export of green chilli, brinjal, onion and garlic until August 31.
Meanwhile, despite a rise in supplies, sugar price also increased yesterday as demand rose ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Sugar, at retail shops, was traded between Tk 54 and Tk 55 a kg, which was 3.84 percent higher compared to the previous week, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Egg price, however, fell marginally and was traded at Tk 34-35 every four pieces instead of Tk 35-36 a week ago.
The price of loose soybean oil rose to Tk 123-124 a kg from Tk 120-122 in the previous week, TCB statistics say.
However, the prices of some vegetables and spices such as potato, onion and garlic remained stable yesterday.
The wholesalers at Karwan Bazar also agreed that the prices of some kitchen items increased due to the 48-hour strike. “The strike has obviously hit the Kitchen market,” said Lokman Hossain, general secretary of Kawran Bazar Khuddro Kachamal Aarot Babshayi Bahumukhi Samabay Samity Ltd, a platform of kitchen market wholesalers.
Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Transport Agency Malik-Sramik Oikya Parishad enforced the strike demanding relief from extortion and harassment by police.
Around 1,000 trucks and covered-vans loaded with vegetables and fruits enter this market everyday. The number went down to 270-300 on Thursday night, he said.
“So, it [strike] clearly has disrupted the supply chain process, pushing the prices of some vegetable items up,” said Lokman.
He said the vegetable growers had to pay extra money for carrying goods to Dhaka due to the strike. “As a result, the prices of a few vegetable items went up yesterday.”
But, he hoped the prices would come down at a reasonable level within the next couple of days when supplies would increase.

দেওয়ানি কার্যবিধিতে সংস্কারের উদ্যোগ

বাংলাদেশে আইনমন্ত্রী বলছেন, নিম্ন আদালতে মামলার জট খুলতে সরকার দেওয়ানি আইনের কার্যবিধিতে বেশকিছু সংস্কারের উদ্যোগ নিতে যাচ্ছে।

আইনমন্ত্রী শফিক আহমেদ বলছেন, মামলা পরিচালনার জন্যে সুনির্দিষ্ট সময়সীমা বেঁধে দেওয়ার পাশাপাশি কিছু কিছু মামলা বিকল্প বিরোধ নিষ্পত্তির মাধ্যমে সমাধান করা বাধ্যতামূলক করে দেওয়া হচ্ছে।
আইনমন্ত্রী বিবিসি বাংলাকে দেওয়া এক সাক্ষাৎকারে বলেছেন নিম্ন আদালতে মামলার জট কমানোর জন্য এবং মামলার দীর্ঘসূত্রিতা কমাতে সরকার এই উদ্যোগ নিচ্ছে।
কিন্তু বিশেষজ্ঞরা বলছেন, এসব উদ্যোগের ফলে মানুষের আইনের অধিকার লংঘিত হওয়ার আশঙ্কা রয়েছে।
মিঃ আহমেদ বলেছেন ১৯০৮ সালের পুরোন দেওয়ানি কার্যবিধিতে এখন মামলা নিষ্পত্তির প্রতিটি পর্যায়ের জন্য সময় বেঁধে দেওয়া হচ্ছে, যা বর্তমান কার্যবিধিতে নেই।
তিনি বলেছেন নতুন কার্যবিধিতে মামলা দায়েরের এক সপ্তাহের মধ্যে মামলার নোটিস জারি করতে হবে, অপর পক্ষ আদালতে হাজির হলে ৬০ দিনের মধ্যে ওই পক্ষকে তার জবাব দাখিল করতে হবে। এই সময়সীমা বড়জোর আরো ৩০ দিন বাড়ানোর সুযোগ থাকবে।
তিনি বলছেন এছাড়াও নির্দিষ্ট সময়ের মধ্যে মামলার শুনানি করে রায় দিতে হবে এবং বেঁধে দেওয়া সময়সীমা লংঘন করলে দায়ী কর্মকর্তাদের বিরুদ্ধে ব্যবস্থা গ্রহণ করা হবে।

আইন মন্ত্রী শফিক আহমেদ

'' প্রায় কুড়ি লক্ষ মামলা বর্তমানে নিম্ন আদালতে বিচারাধীন রয়েছে এবং প্রতিদিনই আরো মামলা যোগ হচ্ছে। মামলার এই জট কমানো এখন জরুরি। ''
মিঃ আহমেদ আরো বলেন বিকল্প বিরোধ নিষ্পত্তির (এডিআর) বিধান এখন বাধ্যতামূলক করা হচ্ছে।

Irrigation canal grabbed for market construction

Unscrupulous people allegedly led by local Awami League (AL) and BNP leaders have continued illegal construction of a 35-room market on a portion of an irrigation canal at Bororia village in Balidia union parishad (UP) of Mohammadpur upazila under the district.
"Two former UP chairmen -- union unit Awami League president Abul Kalam Fakir and upazila unit BNP general secretary Zahangir Alam Bachchu instigated several locals to build the market after grabbing the canal land," said Mohammad Mofizur Rahman, present chairman of Balidia UP, also general secretary of the union unit AL.
Water Development Board (WDB) in Magura has already served notices on 35 people of Borolia village, including Abul Kalam Fakir, his son Rafikul Islam, and Zahangir Alam Bachchu, to demolish the market illegally constructed on the canal land, official sources said.
When contacted over cell phone, Abul Kalam Fakir denied his involvement in grabbing the canal and said, "Local people took initiative to build the market as they were in a crying need of it at the village."
When asked about his ownership of a room at the market he said, "Not I, my son owns a shop at the market."
The official records however, confirmed Abul Kalam's possession of a shop at the under construction market.
Zahangir Alam Bachchu claimed that they built the market following 'verbal permission' from the WDB.
He admitted his ownership of a shop at the market.
The eviction notices served to the 35 people separately by Magura WDB also ordered them to demolish the market on public land with their own initiative within May 31, official sources said.
As the people concerned did not remove their illegal structures within the specified time and continued their illegal construction work, the officials of Magura WDB are getting ready to demolish the illegal establishments, they added.
"We have already sought financial and legal support from our higher authorities and local administration to demolish the illegal market built on a part of Madhumati-Nabaganga irrigation canal," Executive Engineer of WDB in Magura Apurbo Kumar Biswas told this correspondent a few days ago.
The canal from Shirgram village under Babukhali union in Mohammadpur upazila to Rajapur through Bororia village was excavated under Madhumati-Nabaganga irrigation project in 1984-85 financial year to facilitate irrigation of local croplands, sources at WDB office in Magura said.
When contacted, Mohammadpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Shamsuddoza said, "I have already submitted a written report to the deputy commissioner in Magura regarding canal grabbing and illegal construction of the market. The land belongs to Water Development Board and so, it is their responsibility to evict the illegal occupants."

Delay in repair makes 2 bridges vulnerable

The long delay in repairing the Meghna and Gumti bridges on Dhaka-Chittagong highway has rendered the structures even riskier for vehicles, say experts and communications ministry officials.
Failing to find an eligible contractor, the government in May awarded the repair job to Bangladesh Army. However, that helped little, as the army has opted to award the job to a sub-contractor.
It would take at least two months to complete the process of awarding the work to a subcontractor, sources in the communications ministry said.
Most of the expansion joints and the hinge bearings of the Meghna and Gumti bridges are damaged. They are very bumpy and there is the bang every time a vehicle goes over them. However, it is the riverbed scouring that put the bridges under serious threat. Several piers of the bridges are in a danger due to extensive scouring.
Prof Khan Mahmud Amanat of Buet's civil engineering department said, “The repair work will hopefully begin in October, but before that a number of tasks have to be completed. Of them, preparing an alternative road for traffic movement and selecting an eligible firm for repairing the bridge decks are crucial.”
Amanat, who is a member of an expert panel of the repair task, said the authorities would also have to draw up an effective strategy to handle the huge number of daily traffic, as the bridges would remain closed for six hours every day during the 15-day deck repairs. Then there would be a time when the bridges would be closed to traffic for a few days straight.
“The authorities will face a stiff challenge to handle the traffic when the bridges remain closed for several days at a stretch,” said Amanat, adding that the engagement of the army would be helpful in this regard.
On an average 30,000 vehicles, including goods-carrying trucks and lorries ply the Dhaka-Ctg highway daily.
The problem could have been easily avoided had the bridges been dual carriageway. The repairs could have been done keeping two lanes open to traffic.
Apart from diverting traffic, the government would have to deploy a good number of ferries and boats so that vehicles and people could cross the Meghna river during the repairs.
The detour for the Dhaka-Chittagong traffic would be Dhaka-Bhairab-Brahmanbaria-Mainamoti-Chittagong. This means people would have to travel an extra 90km.
Three bailey bridges and some stretches on the detour need to be repaired for a smoother ride, the RHD Superintendent Engineer Shahabuddin Khan of Dhaka Zone told The Daily Star. He said the repairing works of the bailey bridges and roads had already started.
Communications Minister Obaidul Quader in December last year identified the bridges as risky. He said the bridges might collapse anytime. Later, while visiting the bridges, he blasted the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officials for the poor condition of the bridges.
In 2009, the communications ministry repaired the damage to the expansion joints, hinge bearings and the decks of the bridges. But those got damaged again within a year due to plying of overloaded vehicles.
Since then experts had been insisting on an urgent repair of the bridges.
It took the communications ministry a year to take up a Tk 150 crore project to repair the bridges. The RHD in February floated a tender but none of the five bidders qualified for the job.
“We decided to float a second tender to find an eligible bidder by relaxing some of the criteria. But the government suddenly gave the job to the army,” said an RHD official.
The army was in the process of appointing an international firm for the repairs. Buet's experts and Japan International Cooperation Agency officials were helping them in this regard.
Director General of Special Works Organisation (East) of the Bangladesh Army Col Abu Sayed, who is supervising the repair works, said they had already contacted several Japanese companies. “We are hoping to select a company soon,” he said.
He said some steel and rubber plates had been placed on the badly damaged points of the bridge as a temporary measure to check further damage.
Sources said of the Tk 150 crore, Tk 20-30 crore would be spent for repairs of the decks while the rest would be spent on the piers.
However, it is still unknown exactly when the repairs of damage done by the riverbed scouring would begin.
Amanat, however, said it would begin immediately after repairs of the decks are done.

Sohel Taj tenders resignation in person This time Speaker accepts

Finally, Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj's resignation from parliament was “accepted” by the Speaker as he in person tendered it yesterday.
“He [Sohel Taj] in person submitted the resignation letter to the Speaker at the latter's office around 6:30pm today [yesterday]. And the Speaker accepted the resignation,” Joynal Abedin, personal secretary to the Speaker, told The Daily Star yesterday.
His resignation now puts an end to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's efforts to keep him as a state minister without portfolio since his resignation from the cabinet on May 31, 2009.
Under Article 58 (1) (b) of the constitution, Taj's resignation as an MP disqualifies him from continuing as a state minister without portfolio.
Sohel Taj, son of Tajuddin Ahmad, the nation's prime minister at the head of the Mujibnagar government during the War of Liberation in 1971, stepped down as state minister for home following reported interference in his work.
But government documents continued to mention him as a state minister and Hasina on April 19 said she had not "accepted" his resignation.
Legal experts, however, say there is no need for the prime minister to accept the resignation letter of a minister or a junior minister.
Hasina's announcement apparently prompted Sohel Taj, who was elected MP on the ruling Awami League ticket from Gazipur-4 constituency at the last parliamentary polls, to resign from parliament on April 23 this year.
He did not cite any reason for his resignation as lawmaker but had issued an open letter to the people of his constituency, saying he had taken the decision after “much thought”.
Speaker Abdul Hamid, however, on May 9 declined to "accept" the resignation, claiming Sohel did not follow constitutional provisions and rules of procedure of the House in submitting the resignation letter.
Clarifying his decision, he said Sohel Taj, who was then in the US, did not write the letter in his own hand; it rather was typed up. Also, he did not submit the letter in person and it did not contain the phrase "willing to resign," which is mandatory under Article 67 of the constitution.
Sohel Taj had to come to Bangladesh to submit in person his resignation letter to the Speaker if he desired to quit, Hamid added.
The reasons the Speaker had cited to justify his decision, however, were not in conformity with a High Court verdict.
According to a 1995 HC judgment, the constitution does not have any provision authorising the Speaker to accept or reject a resignation letter submitted by an MP.
On the practice of a submission of a resignation letter by a lawmaker in person, the HC said the letter "need not be written by the lawmaker concerned; it is sufficient if it is signed by him or her."
However, Sohel Taj finally came to Bangladesh from the US and tendered the resignation letter to the Speaker yesterday evening, putting an end to the long drama over his resignation from parliament and also from Hasina's cabinet.
Contacted by The Daily Star over telephone, a senior official in the parliament secretariat last night said the secretariat will today publish a gazette notification declaring vacant Sohel Taj's seat in the House. The Speaker may also inform parliament today about the resignation.
A copy of the gazette notification will be sent to the Election Commission that will hold by-election to Gazipur-4 constituency within next 90 days.
Meanwhile, after tendering his resignation to the Speaker, Sohel Taj met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence around 9:30 pm.

Roads left in a bad shape Utility agencies dig up for dev work, DCC forgets to repai

Mohammad Khokon was driving a bus from Narayanganj to Dhaka on Sunday morning. While crossing the Joykali Mandir area, its wheel got caught in a pothole on the road.
The road stretching from Joykali Mandir to Rajdhani Super Market was thick with wet clay as it was dug up recently by Titas Gas to relocate the gas supply lines and make way for the construction of Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover.
The trenches in the road were filled up poorly and Khokon did not notice the pothole. It took the bus around 12 hours to come out of the trap.
This has become a common sight in the area since June 12, when the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd started reinstalling its supply lines along the two sides of the road from the middle.
The excavation work in the rainy season has made driving unsafe, said Khokon. To negotiate the distance between Jatrabari and Gulistan, it now takes two hours longer.
"I have to walk around one kilometre every day along the muddy and greasy road to take my daughter to school,” said Rabeya Chowdhury, a resident of Swamibagh. Her daughter Mariha Chowdhury, a playgroup student at Moitri Kindergarten in Wari, used to go to school by rickshaw.
Contacted, Ashiqur Rahman, project director of Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover, said a recent meeting at the Prime Minister's Office had decided to relocate all the utility lines by June 15. But the Titas Gas undertook their work on June 12.
"We are now digging the road from Bangabhaban to Jatrabari and it will take two more months to complete," said Jasim Uddin, project manager for the rehabilitation of Titas Gas supply lines.
Asked about doing the job in the rains, he said they were ready to do it two years ago, but the project authorities have caused the delay.
The construction of around 10 km-long Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover is expected to end in July next year.
MINDLESS ROAD-DIGGING MOUNTS SUFFERINGS
Many roads in other parts of the capital are also in appalling condition due to careless digging by several utility service providers.
The roads include Darussalam Road, Mirpur Technical to Shyamoli, Mirpur-10 to Agargaon and Tibet intersection in Tejgaon Industrial Area to National Shooting Federation.
Sources at Dhaka Wasa said it has been digging the road stretching from Chankharpool to Buet to lay water supply pipes. The commuters and residents, therefore, have to suffer.
The water supplier has dug up around 26 km road in the capital this year.
Besides, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh has built trenches from Mirpur-14 to Shyamoli via Mirpur-10 and Agargaon to lay electric cables.
Dhaka south and north city corporations are responsible for repairing the roads.
Ahmed Ali Shah, superintendent engineer of Dhaka North City Corporation, said they have already started the repair works and will complete it at the earliest.
"We are not repairing part of the road stretching from Technical intersection to Shyamoli due to a request from Wasa, as they will check their supply lines later," he added.