Energy Div to select IOCs at its own

FE Team | Published: September 17, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
The council committee on government purchase Tuesday sent back the proposal of assigning two international oil companies (IOCs) for exploring oil and gas in the Bay saying the energy ministry itself can approve it, a senior adviser said Tuesday.
Since the council of advisers approved the model production sharing contract (PSC) and any deals will have to be executed accordingly, the respective ministry (energy) is eligible for taking the decision on the proposal, finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters Tuesday
He was briefing journalists about the outcome of the meeting of the highest public procurement body. The meeting was held at the secretariat in the city Tuesday.
Under the Offshore Bidding Round 2008, Bangladesh oil, gas and mineral corporation -Petrobangla -selected US petroleum exploration giant ConocoPhilips and Irish oil company Tullow to conduct oil and gas exploration in nine blocks in the bay.
Then it sent the proposal to energy ministry to forward it to the purchase committee for obtaining approval before signing the PSC with the selected two IOCs.
"As per PSC there is no scope of further bargaining with the IOCs. So the proposals for signing PSC with the exploration companies does not need to be placed before the purchase committee," he added.
The finance adviser said if the energy ministry wants help of any government office for allowing the two IOCs for signing the PSC, it could do so.
"Now the energy division will take its own decision on whether the two selected international oil companies (IOCs) will be appointed for offshore exploration or not," energy secretary Mohammad Mohsin told the FE.
He said: "We've a target to start exploration work during the upcoming winter season.
Following the soaring demand for natural gas and its prevailing crisis in the country, the Petrobangla floated tenders in February seeking proposals from the IOCs for exploring oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal within the country's territorial waters.
Bangladesh had earlier had two rounds of international bidding - one in 1993 and 1997-- for the hunt for gas and oil in the country. But mainly the onshore blocks were auctioned off to the companies during the two biddings.
Under the Offshore Bidding Round 2008, a total of seven IOCs submitted tenders for 15 offshore gas blocks expressing their interest to explore for hydrocarbon by investing millions of dollar.
Out of them, five were disqualified due to their failure in complying with necessary requirements sought by the Petrobangla.
Before inviting tenders, the Petrobangla demarcated 28 prospective gas blocks in the shallow and deep waters of the Bay of Bengal.
The ConocoPhilips has been selected for exploring hydrocarbon in the blocks 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21 in the deep sea and the Irish Tullow for block 5 in the shallow waters of the Bay.
The disqualified five companies in the bidding process were: Australian giant Santos International, Chinese CNOOC and Longwoods Resources Ltd, Korean National Oil Corporation of South Korea and the United Kingdom's Comtrack Services Ltd.