Chevron gets Petrobangla nod this week on Block-7 survey
A Z M Anas | Thursday, 5 March 2009
The state corporation Petrobangla will approve this week Chevron Corp's 2009 capital investment plan as the American company looks to conduct a seismic survey in the Southwestern region, officials said Tuesday.
The second largest US oil group said it would put at least US$53 million (5.3 lakh) in to carry out a two-dimensional seismic survey to explore natural gas in Block-7 that covers Barisal, Patuakhali, Jhalakathi and Pirojpur districts, they said.
The Bangladesh unit of the company said it submitted the proposal to the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, known as Petrobangla, in September last and is now awaiting the approval.
'We're ready to okay the company's capital expenditure plan in a week or so,' a senior Petrobangla official told the FE.
'The investment is required to conduct the survey. It involves a vast 465 kilometres of off-shore, on-shore, rivers and far-flung areas. Now it's a matter of time for endorsement,' the official added.
A Chevron official said the approval would clear the way for the survey 'at the soonest possible time.'
Chevron, which has right to explore minerals in Bangladesh's three blocks including block-7, also submitted the operational budget of $67 million for the year along with the capital investment plan, the official said.
Gas output by IOCs accounts for 968 mmcfd or 51.46 per cent of the total generation from 18 fields across the country, with the remaining 912 mmcfd being generated by state-run companies.
The San Francisco corporation is a major international oil company (IOC) operating in Bangladesh and its daily production accounts for around 40 per cent of the gas output, totalling 1870 mmcfd.
An official at Chevron said, 'We've already done some preliminary work there. If everything goes according to the plan, we'll be doing the survey sometime in April.'
A Petrobangla official said Chevron is obliged to drill an exploratory well in the block area by 2011 in the light of the production sharing contract (PSC).
He added that further development work in the field like exploration of hydrocarbon would hinge on findings of the survey.
He noted that the seismic survey would cover both onshore and offshore areas even up to 20 kilometres of the Bay of Bengal.
Energy experts say the exploration has become 'critical' in view of the country's burgeoning gas crisis that has already forced industrialists in Dhaka and Chittagong to put a slew of projects on hold.
The second largest US oil group said it would put at least US$53 million (5.3 lakh) in to carry out a two-dimensional seismic survey to explore natural gas in Block-7 that covers Barisal, Patuakhali, Jhalakathi and Pirojpur districts, they said.
The Bangladesh unit of the company said it submitted the proposal to the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, known as Petrobangla, in September last and is now awaiting the approval.
'We're ready to okay the company's capital expenditure plan in a week or so,' a senior Petrobangla official told the FE.
'The investment is required to conduct the survey. It involves a vast 465 kilometres of off-shore, on-shore, rivers and far-flung areas. Now it's a matter of time for endorsement,' the official added.
A Chevron official said the approval would clear the way for the survey 'at the soonest possible time.'
Chevron, which has right to explore minerals in Bangladesh's three blocks including block-7, also submitted the operational budget of $67 million for the year along with the capital investment plan, the official said.
Gas output by IOCs accounts for 968 mmcfd or 51.46 per cent of the total generation from 18 fields across the country, with the remaining 912 mmcfd being generated by state-run companies.
The San Francisco corporation is a major international oil company (IOC) operating in Bangladesh and its daily production accounts for around 40 per cent of the gas output, totalling 1870 mmcfd.
An official at Chevron said, 'We've already done some preliminary work there. If everything goes according to the plan, we'll be doing the survey sometime in April.'
A Petrobangla official said Chevron is obliged to drill an exploratory well in the block area by 2011 in the light of the production sharing contract (PSC).
He added that further development work in the field like exploration of hydrocarbon would hinge on findings of the survey.
He noted that the seismic survey would cover both onshore and offshore areas even up to 20 kilometres of the Bay of Bengal.
Energy experts say the exploration has become 'critical' in view of the country's burgeoning gas crisis that has already forced industrialists in Dhaka and Chittagong to put a slew of projects on hold.