Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has said that the international bidding for offshore oil and gas exploration will draw a huge response. “This round, we have introduced some new aspects like linking gas price with Brent and per year cost recovery at highest 75 percent to make the bidding more attractive,” he told reporters at a press conference at Petrobangla headquarters in Dhaka on Monday. The Energy and Mineral Resources Division organised the press conference to brief about the “Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Under Bangladesh Offshore Bidding Round 2024”, for which Petrobangla invited international oil and gas companies (IOCs). Intensify efforts to scale up renewable energy technology: Energy Advisor State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, Energy Secretary Md Nurul Alam and Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker also addressed the event. The tender notice was published in local newspapers and websites of concerned government entities including Bangladeshi missions abroad on Sunday giving six months’ time until September 9, 2024 for submission of the bids. As per the floated tender, a total of 24 offshore blocks — of which nine are shallow blocks — and 15 deep sea blocks are available for the bidding round. The nine shallow sea blocks are SS-01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10 and 11) and 15 deep sea blocks are DS-08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. Gov wants AIIB to invest more in energy, power sectors: Nasrul The bidder, singly or in association with other companies, can bid for one or more blocks. Contracts will be signed with the successful bidders in line with the Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract 2023, said the tender. Tawfiq Elahi Chowdhury informed that so far, the bidding invitation was sent to 55 IOCs who have contacted the government as potential bidders. He, however, averted a question on the geopolitics that might appear to be a factor in the participation of the IOCs in the bidding round. Nasrul Hamid said it’s an open bidding and any company eligible can bid for any block. He said a pre-bid meeting will be arranged after Ramadan for the interested bidders. Read more: Petrobangla invites offshore bidding for oil, gas exploration

Petrobangla, the oil, gas and mineral corporation, has floated the offshore bidding, inviting international oil and gas companies to explore in the Bangladesh maritime area in the Bay of Bengal The tender, named “Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Under Bangladesh Offshore Bidding Round 2024”, was published in local newspapers and websites of concerned government entities including Bangladeshi missions abroad on Sunday giving six months time until September 9, 2024 for submission of the bids. As per the floated tender, a total of 24 offshore blocks — of which nine are shallow blocks — and 15 deep sea blocks are available for the bidding round.  The nine shallow sea blocks are SS-01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10 and 11) and 15 deep sea blocks are DS-08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. The bidder, singly or in association with other companies, can bid for one or more blocks.  Contracts will be signed with the successful bidders in line with the Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract 2023, said the tender.  Read more Cabinet body approves draft contract to invite int’l bidding for offshore gas exploration The features of the proposed contract include full repatriation of profit, no signature bonus or royalty, uncapped attractive gas price linked with international marker, oil price to be determined on the basis of the fair market value prevailing in South and Southeast Asia. It entails no duty for equipment and machinery imported for petroleum operations while contractor's corporate income tax liability will be borne by Petrobangla, and bank guarantee for performance of the minimum exploration program. There will be provision for assignment of interest and share-transfer and 100 percent cost recovery with a yearly cap of 75 percent.  The contractor must have a mandatory work program consisting of 2D seismic survey and mandatory purchase of available 2D multi-client seismic data against bidded blocks to get relief from mandatory work obligations proportionately. They will have minimum work obligation in each of the exploration periods while biddable work program commitment over and above the mandatory program. There will be petroleum profit sharing on the basis of R-factor with biddable upper and lower limits and option to sell contractor's share of natural gas in the domestic market to a third party, at a negotiated price, subject to Petrobangla's right of first refusal. Read more: New PSC: Petrobangla awaits final nods to invite int’l bidding for offshore blocks The bidder must ensure carried stake of 10 percent for state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) for both shallow and deep sea blocks.  The bidders’ qualification criteria include — individual or in case of joint venture at least one member — offshore daily production of at least 15,000 barrel of oil or 150 mmsc of gas. Bidders must have at least one global experience (other than home country) in the oil and gas exploration and production. The Information Package will be available at a cost of US$ 300 or equivalent Bangladeshi taka to the interested bidders/companies. To enable companies to assess the geological prospects of the blocks on offer, Promotional and Data Packages are available on payment basis. Promotional Packages contain Bidding Document, sample seismic sections, gravity, magnetic, geological maps. Companies are required to purchase the Promotional Package in order to qualify for bidding, said the tender.  The purchase price of the Promotional Package is US$ 10,000 or equivalent Bangladeshi taka. Purchase of Data Sales Package is optional. Several Data Sales Packages are available at different prices.  Companies interested in bidding and purchase of Promotional and Data Sales Packages may contact the Director, Production Sharing Contract, Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) Petrocentre, 3 Karan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, said the bidding tender.  Read more: Action against officials of Petrobangla companies if fail to achieve target: Nasrul

Bangladesh government's Energy Secretary Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman Mozumder has said that the government has planned to invite international bidding for offshore hydrocarbon exploration within a month. “Last week the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the New Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC). Now we’re making our highest efforts to go for international bidding within a month,” he told a webinar on Wednesday (August 09, 2023). The Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources organized the webinar to observe “the National Energy Security Day”. Next two years to be critical for energy sector: Nasrul The energy secretary said the government is assuming that this time a huge response will be received from international oil companies (IOCs) as the Model PSC has been modified making it more attractive. “We’re already getting some positive indications in this regard,” he added. He said the government has been working for ensuring energy security and part of it LNG is being imported to supply the gas to the industries on priority basis. Dr Tawfiq Elahi said that the issue of gas exploration has to be on a realistic basis. Improving energy efficiency will be important for Bangladesh: WB “It’s unrealistic to determine a gas reserve in any place until we find gas through drilling, “he said adding, the possibility of having new 10 trillion cubic feet (TCF) at different locations could be a class-room lecture. “But until we drill and find it, we should not have prospects of 10 TCF gas,” he said criticizing Prof Anwar Hossain’s statistics about prospects of new gas in the country. Anwar Hossain in his speech said if the government drills 18 new wells, it can find 9-10 TCF gas easily as the country’s success ratio in drilling is 1:3. Mollah Amnzad said that drilling of wells is a very costly matter. So, the foreign companies can be engaged in this regard. He mentioned that the government is experiencing a dollar crisis and now it’s failing to pay the IOCs, private power producers and also the LNG suppliers. Energy Division achieves 103.04 percent progress in RADP implementation He said the government has made many good policies. But its problem with implementation has now created the current energy crisis. Power secretary Habibur Rahman said that the government has taken a move to generate 2000-3000 MW of electricity from renewable sources in the next 2-3 years. Bangladesh encourages enhancing share of renewable energy in fuel-mix: Nasrul

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in a meeting today (July 26, 2023) approved the draft ‘Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) 2023’ in order to invite international bidding for hydrocarbon exploration in offshore areas of the country.   Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting. However, Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division, Sayed Mahbub Khan, who briefed about the outcomes, did not give further details of the Model PSC.  "This is the final approval to the draft Model PSC 2023,” he said. Cabinet purchase body approves import of LNG, rice bran oil and fertiliser According to official sources, the new Model PSC was prepared as part of the plan to invite international bidding within the current year for offshore deep and shallow water gas blocks by making Bangladesh more attractive to international oil companies and draw investment in hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of Bengal. Under the initiative, the gas price was tagged with the price of Brent Crude in the international market so that the gas price will be flexible. “Under the plan, we’re going to offer the price of gas at 10 percent of Brent Crude,” a top official of Petrobangla, the state-owned national gas company, told UNB. The official, preferring anonymity, said if Brent oil is traded at $75 per barrel, the gas price would be $7.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF). The gas price will always remain linked with the international oil price, he said, referring to the new provision of the 'Model PSC 2023'. Govt expedites gas exploration activities to increase primary fuel supply: Nasrul Hamid But there will be no difference between the price of gas in shallow and deep water blocks, he said, describing other characteristics of the 'Model PSC 2023'. “If the oil price goes down or up, the gas price will follow it rationally and Bangladesh will purchase the explored gas from the international oil companies at this rate,” said the official. Under a Model PSC, normally, if any international oil company (IOC) discovers gas, it gets a 40 percent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 percent. The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So if the gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration work. Keeping retail gas tariff unchanged govt resets margins of upstream, downstream companies Official sources said the country has a total of 48 blocks, of which 26 are located offshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas. Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks—SS-04 and SS-09–are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started. Bangladesh's offshore area remains unexplored despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over maritime boundary almost nine years ago. Titas Gas faces assaults from local lawmakers' supporters when removing illegal gas connections: Titas MD Currently, about 2300 mmcfd gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in the country, while about 700 mmcfd gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 1000 mmcfd. The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was raised to $5.5 per MCF for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from its deep sea blocks. The source also informed that the new proposal has been prepared as per the recommendations of a Scottish consultancy firm, Wood Mackenzie, which was appointed last year to work out the new plan for Petrobangla to attract international bidding from IOCs. Talking to reporters, Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker recently said the organisation has forwarded its proposal along with the Scottish consultancy firm’s recommendation to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, seeking its approval for the plan. Another senior official of Petrobangla also said that as soon as the Cabinet body approves the proposal, the organisation will invite international bidding within two months. “In this case, we hope we can go for bidding within this year,” he told UNB preferring anonymity. He said previously many IOCs were reluctant to participate in bidding for exploration due to the price offered by Bangladesh. Govt planning to invite int’l bidding for offshore blocks with more attractive PSC “Now we hope it will be a lucrative offer for the IOCs to invest in the offshore areas of Bangladesh for gas exploration,” he added. Official sources said the recent excessive hike in fuel prices, especially that of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so that the IOCs get interested to invest here. There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, but that got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time. "The recent upward trend in oil and gas prices has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC," said another Petrobangla official. He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early last year. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has further deepened the global market volatility pushing up petroleum price over $100 per barrel, the highest in the last 7 years. Now, again oil and gas prices are on a downward trend and Brent crude oil is traded at $75 per barrel while LNG price is at below $14 per MMBtu. New PSC: Petrobangla awaits final nods to invite int’l bidding for offshore blocks

The government of Bangladesh is preparing to invite international bidding for the country's offshore gas blocks by making the model production sharing contract (Model PSC) more attractive for international oil companies (IOCs) to invest in hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay. “We’re going to offer the price of gas at 10 percent of Brent Crude,” a top official of Petrobangla, the state hydrocarbons agency, told UNB, referring to the most traded of all of the oil benchmarks. The official, preferring anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, said if Brent oil is traded at $75 per barrel, the gas price would be $7.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF). The gas price will always remain linked with the international oil price, he said, referring to the new provision of the 'Model PSC 2023'. Also read: Petrobangla to amend Model PSC further to attract IOCs in offshore gas exploration But there will be no difference between the price of gas in shallow and deep water blocks, he said. “If the oil price goes down or up, the gas price will follow it rationally and Bangladesh will purchase the explored gas from the IOCs at this rate,” said the official. Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets a 40 percent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 percent. The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So if the gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works. Read More: Govt expedites gas exploration activities to increase primary fuel supply: Nasrul Hamid The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was raised to $5.5 per MCF for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from its deep sea blocks. The source also informed that the new proposal has been prepared as per the recommendations of a Scottish consultancy firm, Wood Mackenzie, which was appointed last year to work out the new plan for Petrobangla to attract the international bidding for IOCs. Talking to reporters, Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker recently said the organisation has recently forwarded its proposal with the Scottish consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie’s recommendation to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources seeking its approval for the plan. Read More: Amid nationwide gas shortages, new exploration work continues in Sylhet The ministry will now seek the approval of the Prime Minister’ Office for Petrobangla's plan. “Once we receive the nod of the PMO and the ministry, we would place a proposal to the Cabinet Economic Affairs Committee for the final approval,” he added. Another senior official of Petrobangla also said that as soon as the Cabinet body approves the proposal, the organisation will invite international bidding within two months. “In this case, we hope we can go for bidding within July or August next,” he told UNB preferring anonymity. He said previously many IOCs were reluctant to participate in the bidding of the exploration due to the price offered by Bangladesh. Read More: Accelerate gas exploration to overcome energy crisis: ICCB “Now we hope it will be a lucrative offer for the IOCs to invest in the offshore areas of Bangladesh for gas exploration,” he added. Petrobangla appointed Wood Mackenzie last year to help amend the Model PSC 2019, to attract international oil companies amid the volatile international fuel market. Official sources said the recent excessive hike in petroleum fuel price, especially that of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so that the IOCs get interested to invest here. The country has a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located offshore and 22 onshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas. Read More: Russian Embassy refutes TIB statement on Dhaka-Moscow grain deals, gas exploration Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks -SS-04 and SS-09-are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started. There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, but that got postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time. "The recent upward trend in oil and gas price has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC," said another Petrobangla official. He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early last year. Read More: Gas Fields in Bangladesh: Exploration of 2 more wells expected to begin this year The latest Russian invasion of Ukraine has further deepened the global market volatility pushing up the petroleum fuel price over $100 per barrel, the highest in the last 7 years. Now again the oil and gas prices are on a downward trend and Brent crude oil is traded at $75 per barrel while LNG price is at below $14 per MMBtu. Bangladesh's offshore area remains unexplored despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost nine years ago. Currently, about 2300 mmcfd gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in the country, while about 700 mmcfd gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 1000 mmcfd. Read More: US companies encouraged for oil, gas exploration in Bangladesh's offshore

More reserves of gas have been found in Bangladesh's Bhola North-2 gas field. The Bangladesh Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources in a press release said that new gas was found from an appraisal well. It mentioned that the drilling works started at the Bhola North -2 Gas Filed on December 5 last year and ended on January 17 this year after reaching 3,428 metre depth to the underground ground. “Today (Monday, January 23, 2023) the discovery was made after completion of the Drill-Stem Testing (DST).” Read More: Bill placed in JS to pave a way for govt to adjust gas, electricity without public hearing The DST in exploration wells is the last step of oil and gas exploration. “The actual amount of gas production will be determined after completion of the final production testing. But Bapex is hopeful that the field would produce 20 MMCF per day,” said the release. 

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that the government would continue to put priority on exploration and production of natural gas. Urging the officials to expedite the implementation of the projects in this regard, he said, it is essential to complete schemes even before the deadline. He made the call while virtually addressing the contract signing ceremony for drilling works of the Well No-10 of the Sylhet Gas Field on Sunday. As per the contract with the Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL), China’s Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation will work as turnkey contractor in the project for land development and civil works, supply of logistics and equipment, third-party engineering service and all others necessary works for drilling, Also read: Parts of Dhaka to face 24-hour gas supply disruption Thursday Officials hope that after completion of the drilling, about 10 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) will be produced from the well. Nasrul said whatever the quantity of gas coming either from work over or exploration wells would play an important role in the development of the country. He underscored the need for taking up realistic projects in gas exploration and production. Also read: Gas Fields in Bangladesh: Exploration of 2 more wells expected to begin this year The event was also addressed by additional secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division ZAkir Hossain, Petrobangla chairman Nazmul Ahsan and managing director of the SGFL  Mizanur Rahman.

Prime Minister’s Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Affairs Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury,  has encouraged the US companies for oil and gas exploration in Bangladesh's offshore areas and to look at the prospects of nuclear power modular reactors in Bangladesh. He also urged the US government to invest more through its International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in Bangladesh's renewable energy sector. The adviser made the request to US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment Jose W. Fernandez at a meeting held at the US Department of State in Washington DC on Thursday. Dr Chowdhury and Under Secretary Fernandez discussed the existing bilateral energy cooperation and explored possible ways to strengthen it further. The Energy Adviser briefed the Under Secretary on the policies adopted by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to make Bangladesh self-reliant in power and energy, said the Embassy in a media release on Friday. Read: I told India to help maintain stability in Bangladesh, Momen clarifies He also highlighted how the Bangladesh government was diversifying its power generation using energy from various sources like gas, oil and coal, nuclear as well as renewables. Mentioning that the current global energy shortages caused by the Ukraine war had placed many countries including Bangladesh at risk in sustaining their energy securities, the Adviser sought the US attention to play its role to improve the situations. Dr Chowdhury emphasized that the US should come forward with more investment in countries like Bangladesh through DFC financing. The US Under Secretary appreciated Bangladesh's impressive socio-economic growth and achievements in poverty reduction. Acknowledging that the Ukraine war was affecting countries of the world, the US did not impose sanctions on essential commodities like food, energy or fertilizers, Fernandez told the Adviser.

State-owned Petrobangla shortlisted four foreign firms in the process of hiring a consultant for making its Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) more attractive to foreign investors interested in off-shore gas exploration. According to official sources, the companies are IHS Global, Gaffney Cline Associates, WoodMackenzie, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd. The four companies, out of eight, were technically qualified in a bidding process followed by Petrobangla. “Now, we will place the names with their respective proposals to the Petrobangla Board. If it approves, then their respective financial offers will be opened for selecting one of them”, said a top official of the state hydrocarbon corporation. Officials said that earlier a total of eight firms had submitted their respective Expressions of Interest (EOI) to Petrobangla of which five were from the United Kingdom and one each from India, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through a scrutiny process, four were shortlisted. The Petrobangla received their proposals on November 21, the deadline for submission of the EOI. Confirming the latest development Shahnewaz Parvez, General Manager (Contract) of Petrobangla, said that it is not possible to say which one will finally be selected for the job until their financial offers are opened and evaluated. He said once the consultant is appointed, it will mainly help Petrobangla to further amend the Model PSC 2019, to attract international oil companies (IOCs) amid the volatile international fuel market. Read: India looking for more foreign investments in Oil sector: minister He noted that the principal upstream energy body will appoint an experienced foreign consultant to draw up the amendments that would convince the IOCs to invest in Bangladesh's offshore gas exploration. Official sources said the recent excessive hike in petroleum fuel price, especially that of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so IOCs get interested to bring their money here.   The country has a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located offshore and 22 onshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas. Read: The 'Future' of Reliance: A mega deal destined to shape future of India;s retain space post covid Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks -SS-04 and SS-09-are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started. The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was raised to $5.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from its deep sea blocks. There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, but that got postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time. "The recent upward trend in oil and gas price has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC," said another Petrobangla official. He dropped an indication that gas price might be increased up to $7.25 per MCF for shallow sea blocks while $8.5 per MCF for deep sea blocks considering the upward global trend in petroleum price. He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early this year. Recently, the World Bank in its outlook for the year ahead predicted that the petroleum price may not fall until the end of 2022 although recently the price declined by $10. The latest Russian invasion of Ukraine has further deepened the global market volatility pushing up the petroleum fuel price over $100 per barrel, the highest in the last 7 years. Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets 40 per cent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 per cent. The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So, if gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works, said the Petrobangla officials. They said this is the first time, at least a 15-year experienced foreign firm will be hired to help the government to prepare the amendments in the PSC as foreign companies can give best suggestions as to what kind of incentives be offered to attract IOCs. Officials said the Energy Division had instructed Petrobangla to hire such a consultant in February this year. But negligence of some top officials delayed the work. They said Petrobangla now plans to complete the appointment of consultants within the next two months and receive their report by April next. It hopes to complete the amendments by May and invite international bidding for IOCs in June this year to start exploration works before the end of 2022. Officials said that the foreign contractor, which was awarded a contract to conduct multi-client seismic survey in the offshore sea blocks, also suggested updating the Model PSC to attract IOCs in the changed scenario in the global petroleum market. Bangladesh's offshore area remained unexplored despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost eight years ago. It has had no success in the exploration of oil and gas in its offshore areas located within its maritime boundary, said an energy expert wishing not to be named.

State-owned hydrocarbon corporation Petrobangla has moved to further amend the Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) 2019 in order to attract international oil companies (IOCs) amid hike in fuel prices in the international market.   The principal upstream energy body is going to appoint an experienced foreign consultant to draw the amendments that would convince the IOCs to invest in Bangladesh’s offshore gas fields. “We’ve already sought expression of interest (EOI) from interested parties to choose a consultant for the job,” Shahnewaz Parvez, General Manager (Contract) of Petrobangla, told UNB. He informed that November 21 has been set as the deadline to submit the EIO by the interested bidders. Official sources said the recent excessive hike in petroleum fuel,  especially that of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC to attract the IOCs to invest in Bangladesh’s offshore gas blocks. Read: India looking for more foreign investments in Oil sector: minister The country has now a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located in offshore areas and 22 onshore.  Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas. Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remained open for IOCs while two blocks —SS-04 and SS-09—are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started. Official sources said that the government had amended the Model PSC last in mid of 2019 raising the gas price for IOC to $5.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) for shallow water blocks while $7.25 per MCF for deep sea blocks from the below $5 per MCF. Read: The 'Future' of Reliance: A mega deal destined to shape future of India;s retain space post covid There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, which was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time. “The recent upward trend in oil and gas price has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC”, said another Petrobangla official. He dropped an indication that gas price might be increased up to $7.25 per MCF for shallow sea blocks while $8.5 per MCF for deep sea blocks considering the upward global trend in petroleum price. He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early this year. Recently, the World Bank also made a prediction that the petroleum price might not see any fall until the end of 2022. Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets 40 per cent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 per cent. The government also buys the IOC’s gas at a certain price. So, if gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works, said the Petrobangla officials.     They said this is the first time, at least a 15-year experienced foreign firm will be hired to help the government to prepare the amendments in the PSC as foreign companies can give best suggestions as to which kind of incentives be offered to attract IOCs. Officials said the Energy Division had instructed Petrobangla to hire such a consultant in February this year. But negligence of some top officials delayed the work. They said Petrobangla now plans to complete the appointment of consultants within the next two months and receive their report by April next year. It hopes to complete the amendments by May and invite international bidding for IOCs in June next year in order to start exploration works before the end of 2022.    Officials said that the foreign contractor, which was awarded a contract to conduct multi-client seismic survey in the offshore sea blocks, has also suggested updating the Model PSC to attract IOCs in the changed scenario in the global petroleum market.     Bangladesh’s offshore area remained unexplored despite it had settled its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost eight years ago. It has had no success in exploration of oil and gas in its offshore areas located within its maritime boundary, said an energy expert wishing not to be named.