Dhaka, July 31 (Xinhua-ANI): Bangladesh has discovered a new layer of gas in a field in the eastern part of the country with the possibility of a significant amount of fossil fuel in reserves, an official said Tuesday.

The gas structure in the country's Comilla district, some 96 km east of capital Dhaka, has been discovered by the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (BAPEX).

BAPEX Managing Director Mortuza Ahmad Faruque, who visited the gas field Tuesday, told Xinhua that the new layer of gas reserve was detected during test drilling in a well of the Srikail gas field in Comilla on Monday night.

The official said they could not ascertain immediately the amount of recoverable gas reserves in the new layer of the field as a thorough analysis and interpretation of the data has not been completed.

The newly found layer was just above the layer discovered on July 13 at well No. 2 of the Srikail gas field, he said, adding that relevant test has revealed good gas pressure on the upper layer.

Over the last years, BAPEX discovered 10 small to medium-sized fields. The biggest field is in Bhola, an offshore island covering an area of 3403.48 sq km and about 205 km south of capital Dhaka, which boasts around 600 billion cubic feet reserves. (Xinhua-ANI)