Bangladesh needs to have proper policies and pricing structure in place to attract international oil companies (IOCs) in exploring mineral resources, said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena.
“You go to next door, Burma, they have 30 IOCs, and I say Bangladesh should have 50 IOCs – all competing to engage here to explore, to produce because your own gas at the end of the day is the best bargain to create the energy that will drive this economy,” he said while addressing the First Bangladesh Sustainable Energy for All Investor Forum at a city hotel yesterday.
Bangladesh, an energy-starved country, is trying to woo IOCs to explore gas and other mineral resources offshore and onshore.
Referring to US-based Conocophilips pulling out of offshore operations in the Bay of Bengal a few days back, the ambassador said energy exploration and energy production are commercial decision.
“They [IOCs] take decision when it makes commercial sense and sometimes when pricing is such, they might not proceed,” he said.
US-based Chevron is the biggest gas producer in Bangladesh and it is expected that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate its new expanded facility next month, Mozena said.
Nuclear technology in Bangladesh
In response to a question on nuclear power technology persuasion by Bangladesh, the US ambassador said Bangladesh has unfathomable potential of hydropower as Bhutan and Nepal altogether have the potential capacity of over 100,000MW of such power.
“I would encourage Bangladesh to dynamically explore these options,” he said, adding that aggressive onshore and offshore exploration for gas and other mineral resources is also very cost-effective.
Dhaka and Moscow entered a deal to set a nuclear power plant in Rooppur, Pabna.
The same was reiterated by Mohinder Gulati, chief operating officer of Sustainable Energy for All, in response to the same question.
“Nuclear power is an expensive and difficult technology. It requires high quality of technology and technical people to manage,” he said. “From the economic point of view, in many cases it is not the least-cost option.”
About the power tariff rate in Bangladesh, he said: “No price is a good price and no price is a bad price.”
Price is a decision but cost is a fact and cost has to be paid by somebody – consumers or taxpayers, he said.
If the cost is not paid, the service will deteriorate, he added.