Anisul Islam Noor :
The government is going to initiate an action plan for exploring marine resources properly soon after the sea boundary is implemented as per the verdict of international maritime court. Experts will work under the action plan for making best uses of natural resources for best possible benefit of the country, said an official of Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the ministry on Tuesday.
As part of the initiative, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is holding a meeting today
(Wednesday) aiming at discussing the action plan with the stakeholders. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the meeting, said Abdus Sobhan Sikder, Principal Secretary of PMO.
This will be the first meeting to be held with the Prime in the chair after settlement of maritime dispute with India.
The PMO has already sought recommendations and opinions from respective ministries and divisions regarding prospects and ways on how to explore marine resources properly, Sobhan said.
“I have already directed the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) to take preparation for fresh offshore bidding,” State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Haimd told The New Nation on Tuesday.
He said that the ministry would take the initiative for fresh bidding as per the EMRD preparation.
A meeting was held recently at EMRD to review future action plan on the country’s maritime boundary after settlement of dispute with India and Myanmar. EMRD Secretary Abu Bakkar Siddique presided over the meeting, official said.
The government will place a proposal to its Myanmar counterpart to establish extended cooperation between Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) and Myanmar National Oil Company (MOC) on exploration of oil and gas in the Bay.
Bangladesh is now working to invite fresh bids with Myanmar’s assistance to conduct the survey, as the ship needs to enter 6-10 kilometers inside the sea of the neighboring country to do the job, the ministry sources said.
Petrobangla Chairman Prof Hossain Monsur has already requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accept its proposal and place it to the Myanmar counterpart in the upcoming 8th round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Myanmar scheduled to be held in Dhaka.
Besides, Indian government has proposed Bangladesh to initiate a joint venture between Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, India for exploring oil and gas from the Bay of Bengal.
To finalise the areas of cooperation with India, State Minister Nasrul Haimd recently sat for a meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran at his secretariat office.
