Petroleum System of Bangladesh and Its Hydrocarbon Reserves and Resources

Abstract

Two proven petroleum systems in the Bengal Basin in Bangladesh have been recognised – the Surma (Oligocene-Miocene) Petroleum System in the northeastern part and the Hatiya (Miocene-Pliocene) Petroleum System in the southeastern part. A potential Bogra Petroleum System, which remains to be effectively explored, is also recognised in western Bangladesh, which includes a platform shelf, slope and basinal area. Exploration activities are mainly concentrated in structural traps, and unconventional plays, such as buried hill, channel fill, pinch-out sands, carbonate build-ups and fault blocks, as well as flank, and overpressure prospect in the discovered fields are yet to be explored. It has been estimated that 17 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) reserves could be added in the gas fields operated by national oil companies by applying advanced technologies such as 3-D seismic surveys, petrophysical thin-bed reservoir analysis, or compression and reservoir management. The gas resource assessments suggest that the risked recoverable mean resource estimates are between 32–54 Tcf. The deepwater potential of Bangladesh is unknown, however, given the high sedimentation rates of the Bengal fluvial-deltaic slope fan complex and by analogy with adjacent Myanmar’s Rakhine basin, Bangladesh deepwater must be regarded as an important contributor to the gas resource base of the country.