With an estimated gas reserve of 200 billion cubic feet, Bhola's Ilisha has become Bangladesh's 29th gas field.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid made the announcement today at a press briefing from his Baridhara residence in Dhaka.

He said the daily production of the gas field is estimated to be around 20 million cubic feet (mmcf).

With the new reserve, the total gas reserve in Bhola now stands at 2.23 trillion cubic feet.

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) started the drilling work at the site on March 8 and completed it on April 14.

In the next 30 days, three drill stem tests (DST) were done, down to 3.4km depth. The DSTs —a method of determining extractable reserve—found that the pressure is around 4,646 PSI, and the gas flow is around 20 mmcfd.

Nasrul Hamid said, a process plant has been installed in Bhola and the government is importing another one to extract gas from the well.

"The price of total reserve in the field is Tk 6,744 crore if we calculate the price according to local rate and Tk 26,750 crore if international LNG price is considered," said Nasrul Hamid at his briefing.

"We have done the pre-feasibility study to build a pipeline from Bhola to Khulna through Barishal. After conducting the feasibility study, we will start the commercial production."

Currently, Bhola island has three gas fields—Shahbazpur, Bhola North, and Ilisha. Only Shahbazpur produces gas of around 90 mmcfd to feed the local power plants, industries and domestic users.

However, many renowned geologists argue against the status of Bhola North as a separate gas field. They believe it is a part of the Shahbazpur field, which is only about three km away.

Ilisha is at least 35km away from Shahbazpur, and its reserve is separated by a seismogenic fault from the other gas fields.

The last gas field discovered in Bangladesh was at Zakiganj, Sylhet, in June 2021.