FHM Humayan Kabir

Petrobangla, the country's state-owned oil, gas and mineral corporation, is likely to start exploration work at the Dighipara coalmine early next year aiming to ascertain the actual reserve and draw up a future mine development plan, a top official said.

"We'll sit with government agencies concerned and energy experts in the first week of January for taking up an exploration strategy of the coalmine," Petrobangla Chairman Jalal Ahmed told the FE.

In a landmark move, the government for the first time has awarded Petrobangla a licence to explore the Dighipara coal zone in Bangladesh's northern Dinajpur.

Petrobangla signed a deal with the Bureau of Mineral Development (BMD), the coalmine licensing authority of the government, on December 21 this year.

Dighipara is one of the five identified coal zones in the country where geologists earlier ascertained a probable 200 million tonnes of reserve of high quality bituminous coal.

Petrobangla chairman Jalal Ahmed said: "At January meeting we will seek expert opinion of the participants and set exploration strategy on the basis of their recommendations."

State-owned Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB), Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (BAPEX), Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd. (BCMCL) and local energy experts will be invited to attend the meeting.

Jalal Ahmed said: "We would prefer our local expertise to help explore the Dighipara mine. We have different options. We can appoint the state-run BCMCL or any other companies. This issue will also be settled at the January meeting."

BCMCL is a company under Petrobangla, which is operating at the country's one of the mega coal projects at Barapukuria in Dinajpur. The mine has started full production from September 2005.

A senior energy ministry official said since the country's potential gas reserve is depleting fast the best option at this moment is the use of coal for generating power.

"We have had target to utilise the Dighipara coal for generating power," he said.

According to Petrobangla, there are seven structures in the Dighipara coalmine. The thickness of coal structure is 72 metre and the depth of the pit is 120 to 400 metres.

Five coal fields have so far been discovered in the country with estimated total reserve of more than 2,700 million tonnes. The energy value of the country's current coal reserve is almost twice the value of its existing gas reserve.