Due to delays in selecting a bidder, it is uncertain whether a proposed 2D seismic marine survey of Bangladesh’s offshore areas will be held in the coming winter season.
Petrobangla received tender proposals in March this year, but has not signed a contract for the job although more than four months have passed.
“We hope that we will soon be able to sign a deal to conduct a seismic marine survey with a foreign joint venture,” Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division Abu Bakar Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune.
On April 13 a government evaluation committee recommended that the Energy and Mineral Resources Division sign a deal with Norwegian-US joint venture TGS-NOPEC and Schlumberger to conduct the seismic survey.
After conducting its own due diligence, the Energy Division submitted the file to the Prime Minister’s Office. After obtaining the prime minister’s approval, the file will be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
On February 9, the state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, commonly known as Petrobangla, invited tenders from international geophysical companies to conduct the survey on a non-exclusive multi-client basis.
Responding to the invitation, five international geophysical companies submitted tender documents on March 29.
Petrobangla had planned to award a contract before November so that the selected company could utilise the coming dry season for the survey.
“We are waiting for the Energy Ministry’s approval to finalise the bidder selection for the seismic survey,” an official of Petrobangla said.
According to the Petrobangla plan, the successful contractor would get two years’ time to complete the survey. Petrobangla will share the profits from the sale of the data.
The survey coverage area is around 118,000sq-km with a water depth ranging from 20 metres to more than 2,500 metres.