Cairn to get nod for third-party gas sale

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Petrobangla will soon give the go-ahead to Scottish exploration company Cairn Energy to sell any gas finding in Magnama and Hatia to a third party, the state-owned oil and gas exploration authority's chief has said, reports bdnews24.com.
Cairn had proposed to sell gas at a price higher than that fixed in the production-sharing contract (PSC) to a third party, beyond Petrobangla, if it struck commercially viable reserves in Magnama and Hatia through a 3-D survey.
The company that is drilling Magnama and Hatia said it could not make profit, if it sold any new gas at the same price as that of its other offshore field at Sangu.
Petrobangla said a maximum gas purchase price has been determined in the PSC with the Cairn. Currently, Cairn sells gas from the Sangu field at around $2.70 per thousand cubic feet.
"A decision on the issue will soon be sent to the [energy and mineral resources] ministry," Petrobangla acting chairman Md Moktadir Ali said Sunday. He made no further comment.
A top official of Petrobangla said the authority had already formed their opinion and would tell the ministry about it in a couple of days. He said the PSC with Cairn Energy does in fact allow the exploration company to sell gas to a third party.
Having failed to strike any commercially viable gas reserve in the two areas after drilling wells last winter, Cairn proposed a 3-D survey there.