Bapex Strikes Gas Again in Noakhali, a Tk5,809 Crore Reserve That Could Ease Bangladesh's Energy Bind

State explorer Bapex confirmed a new gas find in Noakhali on Monday, igniting a flame at the Sundalpur South-1 well to prove gas was present after months of drilling. It is the second discovery in the same gas field inside a month, and officials hope it can eventually feed around 15 million cubic feet a day into the national grid. That is a small number next to Bangladesh's total daily gas needs, but for a country that has spent close to Tk2.77 trillion importing LNG since 2018 to cover a widening domestic supply gap, every new well matters more than its size alone suggests.

Key takeaways

• Bapex confirmed gas at the Sundalpur South-1 well in Noakhali on November 2, with reserves estimated at 97.69 billion cubic feet across two gas zones, worth an estimated Tk5,809 crore at current consumer prices.
• It is the second gas find in the Sundalpur field in a month, after Sundalpur-4 struck gas on October 6 with an estimated output of about 7 million cubic feet a day.
• Domestic gas supply to the national grid has fallen from 965 billion cubic feet in FY2018-19 to 628 billion cubic feet in FY2025-26, even as total demand held roughly steady.
• Bangladesh has spent about Tk2.77 trillion on LNG imports since 2018 and needed more than Tk48,000 crore in subsidies to keep imported gas affordable.

What was actually found

Bapex drilled the Sundalpur South-1 well in Rampur union, Companiganj upazila, starting July 8, using its Bijoy-10 rig, and reached a depth of about 3,289 metres based on an earlier three dimensional seismic survey commissioned by the power and energy ministry. On November 2, the drilling team confirmed gas by flaring it at the wellhead. Rakibul Hasan, the project's drilling in-charge, said the flame had to be extinguished because of excessive heat and that it would be reignited with the Fire Service present. Early estimates put the reserve at 97.69 billion cubic feet spread across two gas zones, worth roughly Tk5,809 crore at current consumer level prices, with officials hoping for an eventual flow of about 15 million cubic feet a day and an extraction life of around 20 years, pending a drill stem test over the next two weeks to confirm actual flow rates and rule out the presence of oil.

Well	Discovery date	Estimated output	Reserve size
Sundalpur-4	October 6, 2026	About 7 mmcf/day	Not separately disclosed
Sundalpur South-1	November 2, 2026	About 15 mmcf/day (pending DST)	97.69 bcf (about Tk5,809 crore)

Why a 15 mmcf well is still a big deal

On its own, 15 million cubic feet a day is a rounding error against Bangladesh's national gas flow, which recent reporting puts at roughly 2,440 million cubic feet a day, split between regasified LNG and domestic fields. What makes new domestic finds significant is the direction the underlying trend has been moving. Domestic gas delivered to the grid fell from 965 billion cubic feet in FY2018-19 to about 628 billion cubic feet in FY2025-26, a drop of 337 billion cubic feet over seven years, even as LNG's share of total supply climbed from 11 percent to roughly 36 percent over the same period. Exploration has not kept pace with that decline: only 38 new wells were drilled nationwide between 2010 and 2024, of which just around 10 were genuine exploration wells rather than appraisal or workover jobs, well short of a 2022 target of 50 new wells by 2025. A newer target of 150 wells could now take until 2032 to complete.

That gap has been filled with LNG, and it has not been cheap. Bangladesh has spent an estimated Tk2.77 trillion importing LNG since the country began shipments in 2018, and needed more than Tk48,000 crore in subsidies over the same stretch to keep the imported fuel affordable for consumers and industry. Import volumes keep climbing regardless: long term supplier cargoes were set to rise more than 53 percent in 2026 alone, to 86 cargoes from 56 the previous year, as new supply deals with QatarEnergy, OQ Trading and Excelerate Energy take effect. Every cubic foot that Bapex can add from fields like Sundalpur is, in effect, a cubic foot Bangladesh does not have to buy on the international LNG market at a much higher cost.

"We confirmed the presence of gas by igniting it at the well after drilling ended," said Rakibul Hasan, Bapex's drilling in-charge for the Sundalpur South-1 project.

What it means for you

For households, a steady trickle of small domestic gas discoveries will not by itself bring down electricity or cooking gas bills in the near term, since the volumes involved are tiny next to total national demand and any new supply still needs months of testing and pipeline connection before it reaches the grid. The more relevant signal is a longer-term one: every billion cubic feet Bangladesh produces domestically is a billion cubic feet it does not have to import at LNG prices, which flow through to the subsidy bill the government ultimately funds through the budget, and indirectly through taxes and energy pricing. For businesses, particularly energy intensive manufacturers who have dealt with gas allocation cuts and load shedding in recent years, continued domestic exploration success, even in small increments, is one of the few levers that could ease supply pressure without relying entirely on volatile international LNG spot prices.

The bottom line

The Sundalpur South-1 find will not move Bangladesh's energy balance on its own, and its reserves still need to clear a drill stem test before anyone can be certain of the real flow rate. But as the second discovery in the same field within a month, set against a backdrop of declining domestic output, under target drilling and an LNG import bill running into the trillions of taka, it is a small reminder that Bangladesh's gas story is still being written underground, not just on import contracts.