Russian oil major Gazprom obtained a contract for drilling 3 wells at Bhola gas field at a contract value of Tk 648.39 crore (equivalent to about $77.184 million).

Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase in a meeting on Thursday approved a proposal of the stature-owned Petrobangla in this regard to award the contract to the Russian firm to do the job on a turnkey basis.

Another 4 procurement proposals from different ministries also received the nod of the committee in the meeting presided over by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.  

Also read: Haripur Gas field: Drilling begins in 9th well

The Energy and Mineral  Resources Division placed the Petrobangla's unsolicited proposal, based on Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Supply (Special Act) 2010, to the Cabinet Body for approval.

It means, the Russian firm was selected for the project through negotiation and without any competitive bidding process.

Gazprom will take over the drilling works from the Petrobangla’s subsidiary Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex) which discovered the Bhola gas field.  

Mustafa Kamal said the Gazprom was picked up for the project since it is a reputed international firm having vast experience in this field.

Earlier, Gazprom had drilled a number of wells at different gas fields to enhance gas production. But many energy experts were critical over the contract value of the works of the Russian firm.

The Cabinet committee approved a proposal of the Roads and Highways Department to appoint Joint Venture of (1) SMEC International Pty Ltd, Australia (2) Swedish National Road Consulting AB, Sweden, (3) ACE Consultants Ltd., Bangladesh and (4) BCL Associates Ltd., Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 46.92 crore for its project - Installation of Excel Load Control Centre at the important points of highways.

A proposal of Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) received the nod of the committee to award a Tk 658.40 crore contract on G-to-G basis to Thales of France to set up radar system including CNS-ATM (Communications, Navigation and Surveillance-Air Traffic Management) at Shahjalal International Airport.

The Cabinet body also approved a proposal of the Water Resources Ministry to award Tk 367.28 crore contract to Khulna Shipyard Limited for 6.3 km river bank protection and 14.750 km dredging works of Arial Kha River in Madaripur district.