Companies interested in conducting a 2D seismic marine survey of Bangladesh’s offshore areas are scheduled to meet with Petrobangla at its offices today for pre-bid exchange.
“We have already urged the interested companies to send their queries in writing ahead of the meeting to be held in the conference room of Petrobangla,” Chairman Istiaque Ahmad of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, commonly known as Petrobangla, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The state-owned oil and gas corporation, on behalf of the government, earlier invited tenders from international geo-physics firms to conduct the survey on a non-exclusive multi-client basis.
The objective of the survey is to provide the oil and gas industry with 2D seismic data of the offshore areas of Bangladesh to aid basin evaluation, prospect generation and robust bid-round participation.
A Petrobangla official said a total of 14 international companies had purchased tender documents ahead of the pre-bid meeting, including French-based geophysical services company CGG, Chinese company BGP, Norway-based Dolphin Geophysical Company, Petroleum Geo-Services and TGS-NOPEC, UK-based Schlumberger and US-based Spectrum.
The coverage area in the Bay of Bengal is around 118,000 square kilometres with water depth ranging from 20 metres to greater than 2,500 metres.
The first survey of its kind in the country’s history, such a survey was deemed necessary following the settlement of Bangladesh’s maritime boundaries with Myanmar and India.
After a three-year pause, the government plans to formulate a fresh production sharing contract (PSC) model to award offshore hydrocarbon blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
The settlement of the maritime border awarded Bangladesh a territorial sea covering 118,000 square kilometres and an exclusive economic zone extending to 200 nautical miles.
After the tender documents are submitted, Petrobangla will select a company and sign a 10-year deal. Petrobangla will share in the profits from selling the data.
The deadline to submit bids is March 29, 2015. The opening of bids before authorised representatives of the bidders will take place at Petrobangla the same day.