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Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the power, energy and mineral resources ministry to send the proposal on oil and gas exploration deals in the Bay to the economic affairs committee for further scrutiny, an official said on Tuesday.
The energy ministry official told bdnews24.com that a summary on the deals was sent to the prime minister on June 21. She gave her direction for further examination this week.
The ministry is presently under the prime minister's charge.
During the past caretaker government, the cabinet committee on public procurement asked the ministry to take a decision regarding long-term exploration deals in the Bay of Bengal.
The government invited international tenders on Feb 15 2008 for 28 offshore blocks, and Petrobangla opened the bid documents on May 7 the same year, saying evaluation of the proposals would be completed "within three weeks" for a final decision.
Seven international companies took part in the bidding.
The US-based Conoco-Phillips, Australia's Santos International, Longwoods Resources (a US-China joint venture), Korea International Oil Corporation, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), Comtrack Services and Tullow were among the players.
Petrobangla, the state-run oil, gas and mineral resources corporation, received 22 bids for 15 blocks out of 28 offered.
It has backed Conoco-Phillips' bid for deep sea Blocks 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21. It also recommended Irish company Tullow for Block 5.
Terms
In line with the Model Production and Sharing Contract approved by the cabinet on Feb 5 last year, the government would sign a four-year exploration deal for shallow sea blocks and five-year for deep sea blocks.
The deals could be extended by four more years.
After submission of development plans, a 25-year agreement would be signed for gas fields and 20-year deal for oil fields.
If any company wants to sell on more than 50 percent of its shares in any of the exploration ventures, it will have to take permission from the government.
The companies would be allowed only to export Liquefied Natural Gas by permission of Petrobangla. They may export oil only after meeting the domestic demand.
Source: bdnews24.com
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