Petrobangla to sign gas co-op deal with top Chinese energy giant

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M Azizur Rahman
Petrobangla will sign a wide-ranging deal with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) very soon, allowing the Chinese energy giant to make its foothold in the country's gas and oil sector, officials said Thursday.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has given her go-ahead to the deal, which may usher in a new era of energy cooperation --- including new exploration in prospective blocks --- between the two fuel hungry Asian economies.
The move comes after the president of CNPC, which is one of the fastest growing energy giants in the world, made a whirlwind tour of the country in April this year during which he met the prime minister and top energy officials.
"We are now ready to sign a memorandum of understanding with the CNPC. We hope it will be signed shortly," energy secretary Mohammad Mohsin told FE.
Mohsin said the MoU with CNPC would boost the country's ailing energy sector, especially aiding the Petrobangla's effort to explore for more gas and oil both offshore and onshore.
China recently expressed its interest to provide over US$ 1.0 billion loan to seven key infrastructure projects in Bangladesh and the MoU in the energy sector would help cement the ties between the two nations.
"The Prime Minister, who is also in charge of the energy ministry, gave her consent to the MoU," Mohsin said.
He said the CNPC wants to work jointly for exploration in the country's oil and gas blocks including participation in the bidding for new exploration.
Officials said the China National Petroleum Corporation International Ltd (CNPCI), the exploration subsidiary of CNPC, would sign the MoU on behalf of the Chinese energy giant.
A five-member CNPCI delegation led by Mr Sun Kaijiang, General Manager of the Asia Pacific business development of the CNPCI, visited Dhaka last week to finalise the deal.
They held discussions with Prime Minister's adviser on energy affairs Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi, state minister for energy Enamul Haque, energy secretary Mohammad Mohsin and Petrobangla chairman M Muqtadir Ali.
"During their visit, we have discussed probable terms of references to be included in the MoU," Petrobangla Chairman Muqtadir Ali said, adding the deal would be signed within weeks.
This was the follow up to the visit by the high-powered CNPC delegation led by its president Jiang Jiemin in April. Mr. Jiemin has reportedly sought a wide-ranging exploration deal during his talks with the country's top energy officials.
The CNPC, fully owned by the Chinese government, operates in 29 countries across the globe especially in Africa, Central Asia, Russia, South America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.
A Petrobangla official said signing of the MoU with the CNPC would be crucial to meet the country's mounting energy demands.
The country is now reeling under acute energy crisis and urgently needs new energy sources.
The government says unless new gas fields are discovered, the supply of gas will start diminishing from 2011 and the country's current gas reserves will run out by 2014-2015 at current rate of consumption.
It projected last year that the country requires an additional 24 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas and investment worth US $ 7.7 billion in the next 16 years up to 2025 to achieve economic growth at seven per cent