State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) has invited expressions of interest from international oil and gas companies to jointly carry out exploration and development of several geological structures.
Bapex hopes to explore a number of well-defined four-way anticline closures – Patiya, Jaldi, Kasalong and Sitapahar – situated in Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
“We invited expressions of interest (EoI) aiming to explore oil and gas from reputed international oil and gas companies to explore and develop four potential onshore gas structures in gas block 22, in the greater Chittagong region,” Bapex General Manager (Geological Division) Md Mijanur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“Bangladesh does not have the funds or technical capacity to explore these structures. So we are opting for a joint venture. The EoI will be submitted by May 28,” he said.
“Patiya was drilled during the early 50s, Jaldi in the mid-60s and Sitapahar in the late 80s. All of them were considered encouraging, while Kasalong was ready to be drilled as well. These prospects are located very close to the industrial gateway and port city of Chittagong, which is an assured gas market that has existing gas transportation infrastructure,” he added.
“It is worth mentioning that most power generation plants in Bangladesh are gas-based, and that the current gas production does not meet demand,” he added.
Earlier, several state-owned global oil giants – China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Sinopec, Thai PTTEP and Russian Gazprom – all showed interest in striking joint venture deals with Bapex.
A Bapex invitation for EoI in 2010 met with interest from Sinopec. The EoI to drill a series of wells in greater Chittagong to explore gas under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010 was later cancelled.
Bapex currently has just one joint venture with Canadian Niko Resources. Together, they developed Feni Gas Field, but production has been suspended because of a payment dispute. They also undertook drilling at Chhatak.
The country’s lone state-owned oil and gas exploration firm has so far discovered seven gas fields – Saldanadi, Fenchuganj, Shahbazpur, Semutung, Sundalpur, Srikail and Rupganj.