The government is once again giving international oil companies a chance to explore for onshore gas in Bangladesh.
Allowing international oil companies to explore onshore gas blocks had been stayed by a High Court order following a writ petition, a senior official of the Energy Division said. The court recently disposed of the rule.
State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) will award several gas blocks to international oil companies through bidding, and retain the rest, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told reporters yesterday.
Speaking at Bidyut Bhaban in the city, at a programme organised by the Forum for Energy Reporters, Nasrul, however, did not clarify the number of gas fields that Bapex would retain.
“We are making plans and will soon decide,” he said.
International companies are being included in the hunt to ease the acute shortage of natural gas the country is currently facing.
On April 21, Bapex invited expressions of interest from international oil and gas companies to jointly carry out exploration and development of four 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.
Power Division Secretary Monowar Islam and Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique, Forum for Energy Reporters President Mollah M Amzad Hossain and Power Cell Director General Mohammad Hossain were present at the programme.
Nasrul said 314MW electricity would be added to the national grid on May 3 from four power plants to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “We plan to audit older power plants and have appointed a consultant to chart out the next course of action for them,” Nasrul said. “Electricity pre-paid meters are being introduced across the country to identify demand,” the state minister added. He said the government would need three or four more years to achieve an uninterrupted power supply in the country.
The state minister said subsidies would be provided, if needed, to keep LPG prices under control, and added that the government would continue its subsidies to the power and energy sectors.