DOT Desk: The government will initiate a new bidding round soon for offshore and onshore oil and gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal, officials said, reports The Daily Star.
“We wanted to invite the bid at the end of 2018, but the process was delayed due to the national election. We are hopeful of floating the tender soon after getting the consent from state minister for power and energy and the premier,” a top official concerned said.
He added the Model Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) on onshore and offshore blocks have already been finalised. He, however, did not disclose the tariff but said the tariff is higher than 2012 bidding round.
The government will also invite bids for onshore blocks on a limited scale, he added.
“We’re planning to invite bids for 22 offshore blocks in the bidding round-2019,” the official said. Petrobangla is preparing the model PSC for onshore and offshore blocks separately, he said.
“We’ve allowed export provision in the model PSC for the first time. This will attract international oil companies,” Petrobangla chairman added.
After delimitation of the maritime boundary in 2012, the government signed three shallow sea blocks, including the Shallow Sea (SS) block-04 and SS-09 with joint-venture ONGV Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd and the SS-11 with joint venture Santos and KrisEnergy Ltd.
The joint venture, Santos and KrisEnergy Ltd, has already conducted 3220 line km 2D seismic survey and 305 square km 3D seismic survey. Santos JV has found some prospect of exploring oil and gas in the block, sources said.
The company is expected to drill one well by the first quarter in 2019, sources confirmed.
Besides, ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd already conducted 3010 line km and 2542 line km seismic survey in blocks-SS-04 and SS-09. They are expected to drill two wells in the first quarter of 2019.
The government also signed a deal for the deep sea (DS) block-12 with POSCO DAEWOO Corporation on the basis of unsolicited negotiations under the Special Act. The company has already completed 3580 line km 2D seismic survey, officials said, adding that the company found prospects for gas exploration in the deep sea block.
In 2011, the government signed a PSC with US company ConocoPhillips for DS-10 and DS-11.
The demand for natural gas in different sectors is 3237mmcfd (million cubic feet per day) against the supply of 3000mmcfd.
Energy experts said the extensive drilling on onshore and offshore will help address the country’s gas crisis. It will also help reduce pressure on the balance of payment created by the imports LNG and petroleum fuels.
Sayed Badrul Imam, a geologist and professor at Dhaka University, said, “We are already late for inviting bids for exploring oil and gas. But it’s a high time to explore more shallow and deep sea blocks to reduce our dependency on imports of costly LNG and petroleum products.”
After taking the charge for his second term, State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid said the government will concentrate more on energy and mineral resources division to ensure country’s energy security.