Anisul Islam Noor :
Petrobangla has yet to final the model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for offshore bidding round 2015. Long time after settled sea boundary dispute with both the countries Myanmar and India, the Petrobangla has just form committee to final model PSC.
The state owned oil, gas and Mineral Corporation is working at a snail’s pace where India and Myanmar has started exploration of oil and gas in nearest areas of Bangladesh’s boundary, sources said.
Petrobangla just formed a 10-member committee recently, giving them eight working days time to submit the draft of the PSC, bid notice and block map to Director Md Quamruzzaman, sources said.
Petrobangla took the initiative after four months of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration passed its order on July 7, 2014 on the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also holds the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, asked the authorities concern to get the bid documents ready for oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal.
‘It is completely a perfunctory move on the part of the Petrobangla to deal with a serious issue like Production Sharing Contract (PSC),’ a Petrobangla official said on condition of not to be quoted.
He said that the committee would have to review the MPSC 2012 in light with the contemporary PSCs with Myanmar and India to draft an ‘effective’ model PSC for the bidding round 2015. The committee must review the experience of the bidding round 2012 under which Petrobangla invited international oil companies to explore oil and gas in 12 hydrocarbon blocks in shallow and deep waters of the Bay of Bengal, he said.
Petrobangla Chairman Istiaque Ahmad could not be reached on telephone for his comment on the issue.
Petrobangla, under the model PSC 2015, would offer more stakes to the international oil companies than under the model PSC 2012 for exploring in the area, officials said.
The Arbitration Court verdict enabled Bangladesh to explore two shallow sea blocks – 1 and 5 – and six deep sea blocks – 9, 14, 15, 19, 24 and 25 – leaving a total of about 6,000 square kilometers area in the Bay of Bengal to the Indian side, officials said.
In 2008, Bangladesh suspended a bidding process in the eight offshore blocks as India claimed its ownership over the sea area. Myanmar also claimed its ownership over a number of offshore blocks in the eastern area of the Bay forcing Bangladesh to conduct offshore bidding for eight blocks.
In 2012, International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas settled the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar. In February 2014, Petrobangla completed the process for international tenders for oil and gas exploration in 12 offshore blocks – nine in the shallow sea and three in the deep sea – under the model PSC 2012. The shallow sea blocks are 2, 3, 4, and 6 to 11 and deep-sea blocks are 12, 16 and 21.
Petrobangla has yet to final the model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for offshore bidding round 2015. Long time after settled sea boundary dispute with both the countries Myanmar and India, the Petrobangla has just form committee to final model PSC.
The state owned oil, gas and Mineral Corporation is working at a snail’s pace where India and Myanmar has started exploration of oil and gas in nearest areas of Bangladesh’s boundary, sources said.
Petrobangla just formed a 10-member committee recently, giving them eight working days time to submit the draft of the PSC, bid notice and block map to Director Md Quamruzzaman, sources said.
Petrobangla took the initiative after four months of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration passed its order on July 7, 2014 on the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also holds the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, asked the authorities concern to get the bid documents ready for oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal.
‘It is completely a perfunctory move on the part of the Petrobangla to deal with a serious issue like Production Sharing Contract (PSC),’ a Petrobangla official said on condition of not to be quoted.
He said that the committee would have to review the MPSC 2012 in light with the contemporary PSCs with Myanmar and India to draft an ‘effective’ model PSC for the bidding round 2015. The committee must review the experience of the bidding round 2012 under which Petrobangla invited international oil companies to explore oil and gas in 12 hydrocarbon blocks in shallow and deep waters of the Bay of Bengal, he said.
Petrobangla Chairman Istiaque Ahmad could not be reached on telephone for his comment on the issue.
Petrobangla, under the model PSC 2015, would offer more stakes to the international oil companies than under the model PSC 2012 for exploring in the area, officials said.
The Arbitration Court verdict enabled Bangladesh to explore two shallow sea blocks – 1 and 5 – and six deep sea blocks – 9, 14, 15, 19, 24 and 25 – leaving a total of about 6,000 square kilometers area in the Bay of Bengal to the Indian side, officials said.
In 2008, Bangladesh suspended a bidding process in the eight offshore blocks as India claimed its ownership over the sea area. Myanmar also claimed its ownership over a number of offshore blocks in the eastern area of the Bay forcing Bangladesh to conduct offshore bidding for eight blocks.
In 2012, International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas settled the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar. In February 2014, Petrobangla completed the process for international tenders for oil and gas exploration in 12 offshore blocks – nine in the shallow sea and three in the deep sea – under the model PSC 2012. The shallow sea blocks are 2, 3, 4, and 6 to 11 and deep-sea blocks are 12, 16 and 21.
