Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has firmly stated that no company will get more than one block in the Bay of Bengal to explore oil and gas, reports bdnews24.com.
During Wednesday's meeting at her office, Hasina also directed floating of fresh tenders for this.
"The meeting discussed ways to harness the mineral resources in the Bay and using them for the people of Bangladesh," Prime Minister's Press Secretary KM Shameem Chowdhury told reporters.
In September 2012, state-run Petrobangla floated tenders for 12 shallow and deep sea blocks-excluding the then disputed maritime area with India-in the Bay to explore oil and gas.
Despite inviting tender bids twice for shallow blocks SS-02 to SS-4, and SS-06 to SS-11, only three companies responded.
In February and March this year, Petrobangla signed deals with India's ONGC and the Australia-Singapore joint venture, Santos-Kris Energy, to explore hydrocarbon in the three blocks. However, the bidding process was halted for deep-sea blocks DS-12, DS-16 and DS-21 blocks in February last year, as no multinational company had responded.
The PSC was later revised to relax rules in compliance with the contractors' demands.
No extra blocks for cos to explore gas in Bay: PM
FE Team | Published: August 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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