Special Correspondent :
At least seven international companies have bought tenders to participate in oil and gas exploration in the country’s sea.
The information was revealed to the reporters by State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid after the first session of a seminar on tenders at a city hotel on Wednesday.
The minister explained that international companies were invited for oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal last March, with many expressing interest in working in Bangladesh’s seas.
“More than 15 international companies participated in Wednesday’s seminar,” he added.
“In this tender, the interest of the country as well as the interest of the investing companies have been considered. As a result, we are very optimistic about this year’s tender,” Nasrul Hamid stated.
Following the seminar’s initial session, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Energy, highlighted significant differences in the new tender compared to the previous one.
“This time many facilities have been increased in the tender, and the matter is now profitable for both parties,” Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury emphasised.
He noted that South Asia is a peaceful region, and investors who take a long-term view will find this aspect appealing.
“Investing in South Asian areas is comparatively less risky,” added the official.
Considering the overall aspects, many companies will participate in the tender process,” he added, citing Chevron’s substantial investment of four billion dollars in Bangladesh as a testament to the country’s potential.
The government’s move to exploit natural resources from the sea marks a significant development following the resolution of maritime border disputes with India in 2012 and Myanmar in 2014.
According to the tender notice published on the Petrobangla website, nine out of the 11 blocks of the shallow sea (SS-01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, and 11) and all 15 deep-sea blocks (DS-08 to DS-22) will be available for bidding. The other two shallow blocks were excluded as they are currently under the purview of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India.
The IOCs that have an offshore daily production of at least 15,000 barrels of oil or 150 million cubic feet of gas a day (mmcfd) will be allowed to participate in the bid.
The bidders must have exploration experience in at least one country other than the company’s home country. The companies will be allowed to bid for one or more blocks.
Contracts will be signed with the IOCs in line with the Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) 2023, the notice said.
On July 26 last year, the government approved the PSC, which allowed the government’s profit share to be at least 40 percent and 65 percent at best in the case of shallow blocks. For deep-sea blocks, it would be a minimum of 35 percent and a maximum of 60 percent.
This is the first attempt to get IOCs for offshore exploration after 2016.
On March 10, Petrobangla invited tenders for oil and gas exploration in the sea.
It had invited 55 international companies to explore oil and gas in the 24 blocks of the Bay of Bengal.
Bidders were granted a six-month window to submit their bids.
Earlier, the last tender for oil and gas exploration in the sea was called in 2016.
Then in 2019, a new Production Sharing Agreement (PSC) was made; however, no tender was issued at that time.
After almost four years, the cabinet gave final approval to the new PSC in July last year.
Bangladesh settled maritime boundary disputes with India in 2012 and Myanmar in 2014.
Currently, there are 15 blocks in the deep sea and 11 in the shallow sea.