Govt readies March bidding round for offshore blocks

The government is planning to invite international tender in March for hydrocarbon exploration in the country's maritime areas, where it would like US oil giant ExxonMobil to participate and show its hand in the bidding round, reports UNB.
The US oil major was conveyed the government's advice when a delegation of the company, led by its Opportunity Manager Jonathan Wilson, met State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid at his office in the ministry on Tuesday.
Nearly a year ago, in March 2023, an ExxonMobil spokesperson had confirmed to Upstream, a trade publication in the oil and gas industries, that: "ExxonMobil has held initial discussions with Petrobangla regarding Bangladesh's plans for an exploration round."
The US giant is understood to be particularly interested in the gas potential of Bangladesh's deep-water open blocks and also perhaps its onshore acreage.
Wilson had written a letter to the State Minister expressing his company's interest.
Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker at the time said: "ExxonMobil has placed a primary proposal to negotiate on offshore blocks in deep sea as well as for some onshore blocks. The proposal is now under consideration."