So far 7 big companies have bought tenders for offshore oil and gas extraction. More than fifteen companies are showing interest, said Nasrul Hamid, Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
The state minister gave this information in response to a question from journalists at the end of a seminar on the bidding round at a five-star hotel in the capital on Wednesday (May 8).
He said that more than 7 famous companies of the world have bought bid documents. They also bought multi-client server data. Many more companies are showing interest. More than 15 foreign companies participated in today's seminar. This shows how much interest has been generated in our sea tenders.
He also said that there is a huge gas market in our country. Our model PSC (Production Sharing Contract) is the most advanced in the world. Here the interests of both parties are protected.
In response to another question, the state minister said, I will complete the sale and submission of bid documents by September this year, and after the evaluation, I want to sign the contract next year. If everything goes well, gas will be available in 7 to 8 years.
At the end of the program, the Prime Minister's advisor on power, energy and mineral resources Dr. Tawfiq E Elahi Chowdhury said, our sea area is a rich area. International tenders are getting a huge response. Again, due to the multi-client survey data, they are able to understand the potential information here.
In response to a question, he said, to attract investment, a moderate approach has to be adopted. We have done that, they will not come to invest if they only see our interests and if they see their interests, we will not do anything. So the interests of both have been preserved by adopting a middle approach. Gas prices will be fixed in line with Brent crude.
This adviser to the Prime Minister said that many countries have disputes over sea boundaries. With the foresight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, rights have been established in a large area with the two neighboring countries in a peaceful manner which is instructive for many.
An international tender was called on March 11 for the exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the sea. 55 top level companies of the world have been invited to participate in it. After the settlement of the sea boundary dispute, the ownership of the sea area of 1 lakh 18 thousand 813 square kilometers was established by Bangladesh. It is divided into 15 blocks in the deep sea and 11 in the shallow sea. In 2010, Conoco Phillips worked on the DS-10 and DS-11 blocks in the deep sea. They demand an increase in gas price after a 2D survey. They left the field because that demand was not met.
Besides, Australia's Santos and South Korea's Posco Daewoo left after the agreement. Indian company ONGC is now the only company exploring two blocks in the shallow sea. Apart from these two, tenders have been invited for the remaining 24 blocks.