Anisul Islam Noor :
Chevron, the energy giant of US, has been planning to pack up from Bangladesh as part of cost readjustment of their deal worldwide following plunge of energy price in the global market, Energy Division sources said.
The company is already in talks with several potential buyers over its planned sale of Bangladesh stakes. But at what amount Chevron Bangladesh’s share will be sold out is yet to be confirmed.
Energy Division officials said, a senior Chevron Bangladesh official revealed the pack up plan when he was asked about the company’s future plan regarding its operations in the country.
Chevron Bangladesh’s spokesperson was not available for comment on this issue.
According to the existing agreements between Chevron Bangladesh and Petrobangla, the US-based company would not be able to sell or handover its stakes to any company without prior approval from Petrobangla, said Istiaque Ahmad, Chairman of Petrobangla.
Currently, Chevron Bangladesh is the largest producer of natural gas in the country delivering around 1,550 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas accounting over 57.83 per cent of the country’s total supply of 2,680 mmcfd from three of its onshore gas fields — Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulavi Bazar — located in blocks 12, 13 and 14 respectively in the northeastern Sylhet region, according to Petrobangla data.
The company has separate production sharing contracts (PSCs) with Petrobangla for three of its gas fields and none of these would expire before 2028, said the Petrobangla Chairman.
He said Chevron Bangladesh in late 2013 had sought an enhanced gas price of around 2.0 per cent annually to install a compression station to enhance gas production from Bibiyana gas field, which was denied by Petrobangla.
It was eyeing to build the compression station at a cost of US$ 459 million to support increased natural gas output.
Bibiyana is currently the Bangladesh’s second largest producing gas-field and supplying around 1,239 mmcfd of gas, or over 45.2 per cent of the country’s overall natural gas output, the Petrobangla data showed.
Chevron started supplying natural gas commercially from Bibiyana gas field from March 2007 with a production capacity of 250 mmcfd after an initial investment of $200 million.
Since then, the field has been producing much better than expected, with significantly less pressure decline than predicted, giving every indication that the field is actually bigger than Chevron’s initial evaluation, a Chevron insider said.
Bibiyana was supplying on an average around 900 mmcfd of gas in October 2014 while it was around 1,000 mmcfd in January 2015.
Chevron Bangladesh is currently getting around $2.76 per Mcf (1,000 cubic feet) for the gas from the Bibiyana field.
