Bangladesh, mainly a gas-producing country, has discovered indications of an oil pay zone in two Surma basin gas fields.
The indications became apparent while Petrobangla was interpreting 3D seismic data to surmise the volume of recoverable gas that might remain in Kailashtila and Sylhet fields, according to remarks attributed to Petrobangla Chairman Hussain Monsur.
Monsur indicated that the deposits appear to be commercial, but it was not clear what work would be carried out to tap them. The oil would not be the first found in the country, where several of the gas fields produced considerable amounts of condensate.
Bangladesh Oil & Gas Minerals Corp. placed the Haripur-7 well on production in mid-1987 producing 450 b/d of waxy crude from 6,670 ft (OGJ, June 8, 1987, p. 22).
Also, the website of Petrobangla’s Sylhet division indicates that the Sylhet-7 well had cumulative production of 560,869 bbl of crude oil at about 6,600 ft from about 1986 until mid-1994. That oil was shipped to the Chittagong refinery. After oil production ceased, Sylhet-7 was recompleted twice in a shallower gas formation.
