Our congratulations to the local engineers and technicians who have added their own milestone to the history of successful gas exploration in the country. More so, because it has come at a time when, despite having over 20 operating gas fields, we have witnessed a supply crunch this winter, which caused great suffering to consumers.

Bapex has proved that notwithstanding the constraints, it is capable of performing the task it was originally created for. It has not got governmental support to a degree that could have enabled it to perform to its potential. Obviously, we needed foreign expertise and technology for large scale exploration of oil and gas, but we must not lose sight of the very important goal of national capacity building in this crucially important sector. Now, taking Bapex as the nucleus, we must strive to develop a reservoir of indigenous capacity for the sake of self-reliant energy exploration on a considerable scale. But the government has to cater for its financial, equipment and manpower needs so that it can play a wider role.

As we have learned from experience, exploration of the sources of energy is not an entirely hazard-free process. So it is expected that our experts will attach due importance to safety measures to prevent any environmental disaster like the Magurchhara or the Tengratilla fires.

There is no doubt that the capacity to undertake oil and gas exploration with our own resources and expertise will put us firmly on the path to self-reliant advancement.