Petrobangla to create new gas blocks in continental shelf

Petrobangla is preparing to create some new gas blocks in the continental shelf of the Indian ocean which has been awarded to Bangladesh by the UN arbitral court in the recent final settlement of maritime dispute with Delhi.   
Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hossain Mansur told the FE on Tuesday that the arbitral court has recognized Bangladesh's right to exploit resources in those areas and his organization is now taking steps to create new gas blocks.
"We will create these blocks as soon as possible to ascertain gas reserves and deposit of other minerals and the agency will not waste time," he said.
Moreover, Petrobangla will also take up a 'boundary remodeling exercise' of some existing gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal to clearly mark them under two categories such as shallow water gas blocks as against deep sea gas blocks.
Dr Hossain Mansur said gas blocks located under a depth from 10 to 200 meters will be recognized as shallow water blocks and those from above 200 meters to 2,100 meters will be known as deep sea blocks.
At present some blocks are located in areas having mixed water depth and it is not helpful to clearly demarcate a block during the invitation of exploration tender whether they are shallow water blocks or deep sea blocks.
"The boundary remodeling aims at ending this overlapping so that gas blocks can be clearly earmarked in international tender documents and the terms and conditions of the production sharing contract (PSC) can be tagged accordingly," he said.
This remodeling will also redefine the boundary of some gas blocks in compliance with the maritime verdict of the UN arbitral court which has made some readjustments necessary in those blocks with India, he said.
Dr Hossain Mansur said they are now moving fast in the context of new situation to assess the hydrocarbon deposits in the off-shore waters and taking steps accordingly. They are preparing to go for a 'reconnaissance seismic survey' to collect the data on possible deposits of hydrocarbon at various level of sea bottom.
During the remodeling and reconnaissance survey of the gas blocks closer to Indian line of control, Delhi will be notified by Bangladesh foreign ministry asking them to allow free movement of survey vessels which may at times cross the line, he said.
Petrobangla is also preparing to engage 'multicline' survey agencies which have the specialized expertise to assess underground substance with highly predictable statistical tools.
International Oil Companies (IOCs) now widely depend on such survey and Petrobangla is taking steps to engage such services to collect data on hydrocarbon deposits in the sea, he said.
The chairman said once the survey will be over by the end of 2015, he looks forward to invite fresh international tender from IOCs to lease out gas blocks in the sea. He said Petrobaangla will take care that one IOC is not taking lease of more gas blocks.
But it will ease at the same time the terms and conditions of the PSC to lure prospective IOCs to the Bay of Bengal.
It aims at offering attractive price for IOC's gas, reducing corporate tax, lending support to set up pipeline from the sea to the land. It may also allow sale of gas to third party and make cost recovery easier, he said.