Nasrul Hamid told Parliament this in reply to a question from MP Ayeen Uddin on Sunday.
According to the state minister, 815.98 billion cubic feet of gas had been extracted until June this year.
“If the rate continues, we’ll be able to use the reserve for around 16 more years, which means until 2031,” he said.
Of the 26 gas fields discovered in Bangladesh so far, gas is being extracted from 20.
The reserve of the gas fields was 27.12 trillion cubic feet. Of the reserve, 12.96 trillion cubic feet had been used until June.
Now the reserve stands at 14.16 trillion cubic feet.
Hamid said it was not possible to supply gas according to the demand.
“The demand will increase in future. So it will not be possible to keep the extraction rate unchanged, if the reserve drops,” he said.
He had earlier indicated that gas supply to household use would be stopped in order to meet industrial demand.
Source: bdnews24
