Haripur Gas Field

On the basis of geological survey, the then PAKISTAN PETROLEUM LIMITED (PPL) started drilling activities in Haripur structure back in 1955. A total of seven wells so far were drilled in this field, of which two turned out as gas producer and one as oil producer. A brief focus on the drilling activities conducted in this field is as follows:

Well No. 1:
The first discovery of natural gas in this field as well as in this country was made through drilling of well No. 1. The well was spud on 26th January, 1955 and was drilled up to the depth of 7800 feet in 17 days. But all of a sudden the well blew out due to abnormal pressure. At the time of blow out, drilling Rig with all accessories were submerged and disappeared into the deep hole, surrounding hills were fractured, gas seeped out vigorously and gas seeping out at nearby hills started burning which is continuing till today.

Well No. 2:
The well was drilled in 1956. At the drilling depth of 9245 feet, an abnormal high pressure had been encountered. To control the situation the well bore was plugged permanently and the well was abandoned.

Well No. 3:
This well was successfully drilled up to a total depth of 5497 feet. The well had been completed as dual gas producer by perforating 4030-4070 feet in upper A sand and 4360-4390 feet in lower B sand. Commercial Gas Production started from this well in 1961. Production from lower sand was suspended in 1969 due to excessive water production. However, gas production was continuing from upper sand until March, 1988 when the well was shut down due to excessive production of water and sand. Since then the well is dead with zero well head pressure and full of formation water in the tubing. Cumulative gas production from this well until March, 1988 is 89.106 billion cubic feet. The formation pressure of this well was 1800 psig and the abandoned pressure was around 1100 psi.

Well No. 4:
This well was drilled in 1962. After drilling a total depth of 1032 feet, high pressure gas and water started coming out with great intensity. The well was abandoned due to safety and technical reasons.

Well No. 5:
This well was drilled in 1969 besides well no 4 as an observation well. After drilling a total depth of 1885 feet, it was also abandoned due to technical reason.

Well No. 6:
This well was successfully drilled in 1964. The total drilling depth of the well is 4610 feet. The well was completed as dual producing well like well 3 in the same upper and lower bokabil sand. The perforating depths were 3980 to 4030 and 4290 to 4320 feet upper and lower sand respectively.

Since inception gas was produced @ 10-15 MMCFD from both the sands. Gas production from lower sand was suspended on November 1993 due to excessive water & sand production.

However, Gas production from upper sand is continuing till today with limited quantity of 5.5 MMCFD. The flowing well head pressure at present is 1180 psig which was around 1600 psig initially. Cumulative Gas production from this well is 79.84 billion cubic feet untill June, 2002.

After 37 years of non stop production, well no 6 is in the last stage of recovery. Production may stop anytime due to natural breakthrough of water.

THE LONE OIL WELL OF BANGLADESH
Well No. 7:
Sylhet well No 7 was spud on 12th September, 1986 by the drilling contractor BAPEX with an objective to drainage the remainder up-dip gas of Sylhet structure which could not be tapped through well no 6 & 3. The total drilling depth of this well was 2065 meter. During the drilling a potential oil zone was detected with in the interval of 2009-2033 meter. The well was completed as oil producer after perforating the interval 2020-2033 meter. This is the first discovery of mineral oil in the country.

Initially the oil production was around 350 barrels per day with negligible water cut. However, with time a gradual production declining trend had become apparent. After 07 years of more or less uninterrupted production of total 560869 barrels of crude oil, the well ceased its production on 14th July, 1994. The natural well head pressure was zero at that time.

PROCESS PLANT
A 30 MMCSFD capacity silicagel type gas dehydration plant with fractionation facilities has been in operation at Haripur Field to process and supply the gas produced from the wells of this field. The present ratio of condensate recovery from this field is around 3.5 barrel per MMSCF of gas. Heavy condensate extracted here is split into motor spirit and kerosene oil. The light condensate conforms to aviation grade motor spirit.

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Chatak Gas Field

Chatak structure is located at the north end of Surma basin. The only well of Chatak gas field was discovered at Tengratilla of Dowarabazar Upazilla in Sunamganj District in 1959. In 1960, commercial production of gas commenced for the first time in the country by supplying about 4 million cubic feet of gas per day to Chatak Cement Factory and pulp and paper mills that heralded a new era in the production and use of natural gas in Bangladesh. It was a landmark in the use of natural gas as an industrial prime-mover. Production from the well has been kept under suspension since 1986 due to onrush of excessive water and sand.

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Rashidpur Gas Field

Wells:
Rashidpur Gas Field was discovered by Shell in 1960. A total of 7 wells have so far been drilled in this field. Gas production from this field is fed to North-South Pipeline. The drilling of Rashidpur-1 (RP-1) established the presence of two gas bearing intervals in the Miocene section known as the Upper Gas Sand (UGS) and the Lower Gas Sand (LGS). Rashidpur-2 (RP-2) was drilled at the same location as RP-1 in 1960/61 to evaluate the section below the LGS and it was concluded that all sands below the LGS would be water bearing.

In 1989 under the Second Gas Development Project, Rashidpur-3 (RP-3) and (RP-4) were drilled and completed as producers from the LGS. At the same time, RP-1 and RP-2 were worked over and completed in the UGS and LGS respectively.

The drilling programme of three additional development appraisal wells under Gas Infrastructure Development Project (GIDP) was implemented from January 1999 to September 1999. The primary object of these three wells was to complete LGS as a producer, which is a main gas reservoir in the Rashidpur Gas Field. Other objectives were data collection of UGS for future development, along with the investigation of other potential hydrocarbon-bearing zones, such as the Middle Gas Sand (MGS) which was discovered by the drilling of RP-4.

Process Plants:
Four gas process plants have been set up in the field to process the gas produced from the wells, which include - one 60 MMCFD glycol type plant and one 70 MMCFD solid desiccant (Silicagel) type gas processing plant and 2X45 silicagel type process plants.

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