The fate of the under-construction 37km Ashuganj-Manohardi gas pipeline, which is critical to improving the country's gas supply, has become uncertain due to a Chinese contractor's inefficiency in laying pipeline across the Meghna.
China Petroleum Technology and Development Corporation (CPTDC), a contractor for Canadian Niko Resources, recently abandoned a 1km pipeline of 30-inch diameter in the river. Now it is trying to find an alternative installation site to finish the job at its own cost, competent sources said.
If it cannot finish the job by April, the pipeline project may take another year and an inflated budget to complete. This also means an inevitable and serious gas supply
crisis this year, the sources said.
“The chances are that the project will be delayed. Because the contractor will have to procure the pipes from the international market first and then lay the pipeline,” said a source, adding, “In the first place, crossing the Meghna is a very difficult task and we should have hired a more competent contractor.”
Such a pipeline cannot be installed after April, as the water level will start to rise and the current in the river will become increasingly difficult to face. The best time for such a job is the winter.
On the other hand, another contractor is expected to complete laying the 35km pipeline over land by April. But, if the section of the pipeline across the river is not laid,
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the pipeline cannot be used.
The CPTDC was awarded the Tk 18-crore project for laying the pipeline section across the Meghna last year, although it had already proven its inefficiency through the first blowout of the Tengratila gas field in January 2004. It was then working as the drilling contractor for Canadian Niko at the gas field that blew out on January 7 for negligent operations and flawed drilling designs.
But political high-ups pressured the project implementation authority, Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL), to award the contract to CPTDC despite its negative Tengratila record.
A top GTCL source defended the decision, saying, “The company meets the experience and technical criteria. There are many wings of the CPTDC and one of those might have been involved in the Tengratila operations. We cannot blame the CPTDC as a whole. Besides, its failure to lay pipeline across the Meghna does not prove inefficiency. In the past, a French company also failed to lay a pipeline of 24-inch diameter in this river.”
However, he said, “If it fails to complete the task by the deadline, we will take punitive actions as per the agreement.”
Another source pointed out that, as because a renowned French company named Spie Capag had to try thrice to lay a 24-inch pipeline across the Meghna, the authorities should have been more careful about picking the contractor to do the new job.
The pipeline project, which is already running nearly two years behind the schedule, created a lot of uproars among parliamentarians last year.
Ruling BNP lawmaker Shakhawat Hossain Bokul elected from Manohardi, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on energy, at one point was blamed for hindering the progress of the pipeline project for his personal gains.
Some officials said Bokul engaged some men in erecting structures along the route of the pipeline in Manohardi before the phase of land acquisition. A section of officials of the energy ministry joined the league and overestimated the price of land. This
way, the land acquisition cost multiplied several times and Bokul made several crores of fastback. However, he flatly denied the accusation or having any connection with those who built structures overnight along the pipeline's route.
Later, the blame was shifted to Petrobangla and the project completion schedule was reset at June 2006.
The CPTDC's job consisted of installing pipelines across two rivers -- a 300 metre section across the tamed Arial Kha and the 1km one across the tough Meghna. It succeeded with the Arial Kha job.
“Once it is completed, gas supply will increase by 100 to 150 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) and greatly improve the gas transmission pressure,” said an expert, “but, most importantly, a number of new pipelines can be built based on this pipeline.” These will include a pipeline from Manohardi to Elenga, Dhanua, Bonpara and then to the further east in Bharamara etc, he said.
Currently, Petrobangla supplies around 1,510 mmcfd of gas against a demand for 1,610 mmcfd. Power plants consume around 46 percent of the gas and fertiliser plants some 19 percent.