Due to slow progress on the hydrocarbon exploration in the country's offshore blocks, the Petrobangla is expected to float international tender for onshore blocks soon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is also in charge of the Ministry of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources directed the Petrobangla Chairman Prof Hossain Monsoor Saturday to take necessary steps in this regard.
Hossain Monsoor said, I am proceeding my own way following the directive of the PM in this regard."
He hoped that Petrobangla would be able to resolve the legal issue regarding onshore bidding.
Energy and Mineral Resources Division has already started a process to move ahead with its plan to invite the bidding for onshore gas blocks to reduce the country's gas crisis.
The daily gas production of the country is now 1900 million cubic feet per day against the demand for 2,300mmcfd.
High Court imposed an embargo on invitation of international tender on the onshore gas blocks, which remains the main barrier to onshore gas search.
Earlier, there was court embargo on both offshore and onshore gas block biddings. During the BNP-led alliance government, the court had imposed the ban.
Later, the High Court withdrew the ban after a move by the caretaker government in 2007. The court allowed the government to invite international bidding for offshore gas blocks, but the embargo on onshore gas block bidding still remains.
"We have moved several times to the Attorney General Office (AGO) regarding the case in the High Court so that the embargo is lifted," a official of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division told The New Nation earlier.
The AGO office has responded positively to the matter, he said.
The country's onshore and offshore areas were divided into 23 blocks following the publication of the National Energy Policy and held the first international bidding for hydrocarbon exploration in the onshore and offshore areas in 1993.
Eight blocks were awarded to different IOCs. Among them, Occidental obtained Blocks 12, 13 and 14, Cairn Energy received Blocks 15 and 16, Oakland/Rexwood got Blocks 17 and 18, and United Meridien received Block 22.
The second round of PSC award was held in 1997, under which a number of contracts were signed by 2001 and the major blocks awarded to some IOCs. Of those, Block 9 was jointly awarded to Tullow, Chevron, Texaco and BAPEX, while Blocks 5 and 10 were awarded to Shell, Cairn and BAPEX, and Block 7 to Unocal, now Chevron and BAPEX.
The state-owned BAPEX was kept as joint operator in all the blocks as mandatory with the IOCs. Through the two bidding rounds held in 1993 and 1997, ten production sharing contracts (PSCs) were signed with a number of international oil companies (IOCs) for 12 blocks.
Out of these, three PSCs have already expired. Currently, seven PSCs are active in 10 blocks.
In the third round international bidding, the country's offshore area was divided into 28 new blocks. In February 2008, the caretaker government invited the international bidding for the 28 new offshore blocks under a newly prepared model PSC (production sharing contract)-2008.
Of the new 28 blocks, eight are shallow water blocks and the remaining 20 deep sea blocks.
In the third round bidding, seven IOCs have submitted bids for 15 blocks. After the evaluation of the bids, finally three blocks were awarded to two IOCs.
Deep sea block 10 and 11 are selected to be awarded to the US-based ConocoPhillips while shallow water block 5 selected for Irish company Tullow.
After primary discussion, Tullow wanted to include the disputed areas of block-5 while the ConocoPhillips sought eight blocks including the disputed areas which it got during the caretaker government. |
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