Speakers at a Roundtable on Gas and the Future of Bangladesh' yesterday said that utilisation of all the gas reserves for short term gains would not benefit the nation.

They emphasised balanced utilisation'' of the gas resources considering the present poor energy situation and country’s future needs.

The speakers who included parliament members and energy experts said the government should be cautious about the consequences of gas export for short term benefit because the gas reserve is not "enough” to meet the local needs. The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) a think-tank, organised the Roundtable.

They questioned the justification of opening al) the gas exploration blocks for bidding when the country does not have a proper plan or resources to purchase gas from the explorers in case of discovery Neither the country is equipped to utilise the future gas resources, they observed.

Former Energy Minister Dr Mosharraf Hossain, former planning minister Dr. Moin Khan. Chairman of the Geology Department of Dhaka University Dr Badrul Imam. Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Jatiya Sangsad SM Akram, Imran Khan, MP, Barrister Moinul Islam and some others participated in the discussion.

Former finance minister and Chairman of the IPS M Sal-fur Rahman chaired the Roundtable, moderated by Executive Director of IPS Dr Osman Haider Chowdhury

The present 10.8 trillion cubic feet gas reserve of the country will be exhausted by the year 2020 without even catering to the local needs properly. According to available data, the country could hardly double Its recoverable gas reserve in future. they said.

"We are not floating on gas and there is no evidence that Bangladesh has a prospective Ss reserve of 80 trillion cubic :t.” Mosharraf Hossain said commenting on a recent state-

ment by the energy minister.

"It appears that by making such over-optimistic statements. they are trying to Justify a conspiratorial plan to export gas to India or othet countries," said the former minister.

Dr Badrul Imam, giving technical details about the prospects of hydrocarbon reserves. said that in order to double the 10.8 TCF gas reserve, at least 75 exploratory wells should be drilled. There are 21 production gas wells in the country. This ratio has been calculated on the basis of success rate of the explorers in finding gas (one gas structure in every three exploratory well), he said.

"But the present statistics on the geological structure show us that there Is only 6 such untested prospective spots and even if I am very much optimistic. the number of such spots would hardly exceed 40," Iman said. "Forty spots mean only 13 recoverable wells."

Commenting on the current negotiations on block bidding, he said that in Block 9. the Irish

company Tullow has proposed to drill 10 exploratory wells." "This is unbelievable. Block 9 does not have 10 such structures (or prospective spots). There are 3 to 4 such structures only."

Imran Ahmed, an Awami League MP. however, said that the government must consider the present situation first and future later. "We can't keep gas unutilised now Just for the sake of the future." he said.

SM Akram. Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of JS also said, "we must remember that a large part of the country does not have energy. We must address this issue first. But we must also strike a balance between the present and the future needs."

"But should we wait for the future?" He questioned. "Someone In the future may come up with a new solution to the energy crisis."

Salfur Rahman said, "The future may have some new solution. but now we don't have any such thing. So we can not kill the bird in our hand for the one In the bush.”