Re-tenders are being sought by state-owned Petrobangla for a 2D multi-client seismic survey to hunt for offshore hydrocarbon reserves.
The government has not officially made it clear whether it was cancelling the previous bidding, for which interested companies submitted proposals in March. It did not award the survey contract to any of the earlier bidders.
“Petrobangla, on behalf of the government, invites re-tender to conduct 2D multi-client seismic survey,” Chairman Istiaque Ahmad of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, widely known as Petrobangla, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The last bid submission date for the re-tender is January 31, 2016. The opening of bids before authorised representatives of the bidders will take place at Petrobangla the same day.
After the tender documents are submitted, a company will be selected for the survey and a 10-year deal will be signed, Istiaque said.
“We will not have any expenses because the work will be done with their funds. Petrobangla will share in the profits from selling the data after cost recovery,” he added.
In April, a month after the earlier proposals were submitted, a government evaluation committee recommended that the Energy and Mineral Resources Division sign a deal with Norway-US joint venture company TGS-NOPEC and Schlumberger to conduct the survey.
US-based Geotrace came out second in that evaluation.
Sector insiders said the invitation for re-tenders would delay the exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the country’s offshore areas.
They said that a lack of guidance of decision-makers in appointing a surveyor had slowed down the momentum of the government initiative.
The first study of its kind in the country’s history, the importance of seismic surveys came to the fore following the settlement of Bangladesh’s maritime boundaries with Myanmar and India.
The water depth to be covered will vary from 20m to more than 2,500m.
The objective of the survey is to provide the oil and gas industry with 2D non-exclusive multi-client seismic data of the offshore areas of Bangladesh in order to help with basin evaluation, prospect generation and robust bid-round participation.
Interested companies are required to purchase bid documents for TK8,000, roughly $100. The bid documents include a schedule and a model agreement for the 2D seismic survey, according to the tender notice.
Interested companies must have previous experience conducting offshore multi-client seismic surveys in at least three different countries, the notice reads.