Dhaka-Delhi talks on maritime boundary disputes tomorrow
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Naim-Ul-Karim
Bangladesh and Indian officials will meet in the capital tomorrow (Monday) after nearly three decades to end an impasse over maritime boundary, which has emerged as the main obstacle to the country's offshore search for oil and gas.
The meeting was convened after New Delhi strongly opposed Dhaka's move to lease out offshore blocks close to India's maritime territory for exploration by global gas and oil companies.
"Our land territory has been delineated immediately after the war of independence. But we have yet to demarcate our sea territory with India and Myanmar, which is now creating a lot of disputes," a senior foreign ministry official said Saturday.
"Officials of the two countries will meet in Dhaka September 15-17 after 28 years to discuss the disputes over our common maritime boundary. We hope the meeting will pave the way for quick demarcation of the Bay," he said.
Additional foreign secretary MAK Mahmud will lead Bangladesh side during the talks. The chief of Indian hydrography department is expected to lead New Delhi.
Although India and Myanmar share the hydrocarbon rich Bay of Bengal with Bangladesh, they haven't demarcated the sea boundary yet, resulting in the recent disputes over Dhaka's hydrocarbon exploration bids in its offshore blocks.
The disputes cropped up in February this year after state-owned Petrobangla invited bids from foreign companies for oil and gas hunt in the Bay, after it divided the offshore territory into 28 exploration blocks.
But India and Myanmar --- which have discovered huge gas reserves in their parts of the Bay --- opposed the bids, saying they would not allow any companies to search hydrocarbon in the disputed blocks bordering their territory.
In a letter to Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, India protested Bangladesh bidding, saying the offshore blocks should not be awarded to the IOCs without resolving international maritime boundary.
Despite the strong objection, the caretaker government has moved ahead in awarding the offshore blocks, as the country is now in desperate need for new gas-fields to prop up its depleting gas reserves.
The country's gas reserve has fallen from 15.37 trillion cubic feet to around seven tcf as of June this year due to soaring industrial use and lack of new discoveries.
Petrobangla said if the present consumption rate continues, the country's daily gas supply will fall drastically from 2011 before finishing in 2019.
Foreign ministry officials said to end the disputes, they have already held two rounds of talks with Myanmar and the discussions have yielded "good results."
Earlier this year Myanmar issued letters to a number of prospective bidders including Irish Tullow and Chinese Longwoods Resources Ltd, asking them to be cautious about signing PSCs with Dhaka on the blocks near its sea territory.
In 2006, Bangladesh also protested launching of oil and gas explorations by India and Myanmar in the Bay, after reports emerged that both the countries overlapped Bangladesh's territory.
But despite the protest both New Delhi and Yangon moved ahead unilaterally awarding oil and gas blocks in bordering areas.
The chief adviser's special assistant for energy and power M Tamim had earlier said the dispute over maritime boundary with the neighbours would be resolved in line with relevant international law and bilateral deals.
He said many countries like Vietnam, China, Japan and Thailand have similar disputes, but these have not hampered global oil and gas companies' exploration of hydrocarbon there.
Bangladesh and Indian officials will meet in the capital tomorrow (Monday) after nearly three decades to end an impasse over maritime boundary, which has emerged as the main obstacle to the country's offshore search for oil and gas.
The meeting was convened after New Delhi strongly opposed Dhaka's move to lease out offshore blocks close to India's maritime territory for exploration by global gas and oil companies.
"Our land territory has been delineated immediately after the war of independence. But we have yet to demarcate our sea territory with India and Myanmar, which is now creating a lot of disputes," a senior foreign ministry official said Saturday.
"Officials of the two countries will meet in Dhaka September 15-17 after 28 years to discuss the disputes over our common maritime boundary. We hope the meeting will pave the way for quick demarcation of the Bay," he said.
Additional foreign secretary MAK Mahmud will lead Bangladesh side during the talks. The chief of Indian hydrography department is expected to lead New Delhi.
Although India and Myanmar share the hydrocarbon rich Bay of Bengal with Bangladesh, they haven't demarcated the sea boundary yet, resulting in the recent disputes over Dhaka's hydrocarbon exploration bids in its offshore blocks.
The disputes cropped up in February this year after state-owned Petrobangla invited bids from foreign companies for oil and gas hunt in the Bay, after it divided the offshore territory into 28 exploration blocks.
But India and Myanmar --- which have discovered huge gas reserves in their parts of the Bay --- opposed the bids, saying they would not allow any companies to search hydrocarbon in the disputed blocks bordering their territory.
In a letter to Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, India protested Bangladesh bidding, saying the offshore blocks should not be awarded to the IOCs without resolving international maritime boundary.
Despite the strong objection, the caretaker government has moved ahead in awarding the offshore blocks, as the country is now in desperate need for new gas-fields to prop up its depleting gas reserves.
The country's gas reserve has fallen from 15.37 trillion cubic feet to around seven tcf as of June this year due to soaring industrial use and lack of new discoveries.
Petrobangla said if the present consumption rate continues, the country's daily gas supply will fall drastically from 2011 before finishing in 2019.
Foreign ministry officials said to end the disputes, they have already held two rounds of talks with Myanmar and the discussions have yielded "good results."
Earlier this year Myanmar issued letters to a number of prospective bidders including Irish Tullow and Chinese Longwoods Resources Ltd, asking them to be cautious about signing PSCs with Dhaka on the blocks near its sea territory.
In 2006, Bangladesh also protested launching of oil and gas explorations by India and Myanmar in the Bay, after reports emerged that both the countries overlapped Bangladesh's territory.
But despite the protest both New Delhi and Yangon moved ahead unilaterally awarding oil and gas blocks in bordering areas.
The chief adviser's special assistant for energy and power M Tamim had earlier said the dispute over maritime boundary with the neighbours would be resolved in line with relevant international law and bilateral deals.
He said many countries like Vietnam, China, Japan and Thailand have similar disputes, but these have not hampered global oil and gas companies' exploration of hydrocarbon there.