DHAKA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh has discovered a new gas reserve in the southern part of the country with the possibility of a significant amount of fossil fuel in the new structure.

The gas structure in Bhola district has been discovered by the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (BAPEX), Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told reporters on Monday.

He said some 600 billion cubic feet of gas (bcf) has been found in the country's 27th gas reserve.

The official could not tell immediately the amount of recoverable gas reserves in the structure.

But he expressed the hope that this would be one of the largest reserves discovered in recent years.

Over the last years, BAPEX discovered 11 small- to medium-sized fields.

The biggest field so far is in Bhola, an offshore island covering an area of 3,403.48 sq km and about 205 km south of the capital Dhaka, which boasts hundreds of billions of cubic feet reserves.