Bangladesh has sought 150 million U. S. dollars worth of fund from the World Bank to finance exploration of gas, local daily The Financial Express reported Saturday.

As the current reserve of the natural resource in the country will go dry by 2011, there was no option but to explore more gas, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Finance Ministry said in its proposal which would be sent to the World Bank.

An ERD official was quoted as saying the ERD will send the fund proposal to the Washington-based donor within a short period.

Bangladesh has also appealed to the Washington-based lender for helping the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) in its efforts to conduct seismic survey in different areas to find new gas reserve, drill at Semutang Gas Field in southeastern Chittagong region, and develop gas transmission and distribution systems.

According to Petrobangla, the national petroleum company, the total recoverable gas reserve at present in the country is less than 13 trillion cubic feet.

Source: Xinhua