The government is set to sign a deal today with a joint venture firm of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to start oil and gas exploration at one offshore shallow block in the Bay of Bengal under the fourth round of model PSC.
“The government and Petrobangla will jointly sign a production sharing contract [PSC] for one block with the joint venture of Australia-based Santos and Singapore-based Kris Energy Limited tomorrow [today],” Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Monsur told the Dhaka tribune yesterday.
“We will also sign PSC for one shallow block with the US-based ConocoPhillips soon,” he added.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith is expected to be present at the signing ceremony as the chief guest, while prime minister’s Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid would be present as special guests.
After participating in an international tender, Santos and Kris Energy obtained the exploration rights to block 11 and ConocoPhillips got block 7.
Santos and Kris Energy have offered to invest $32m to conduct 2D seismic survey of 870-line km, 3D seismic survey of 300sq-km and drill one well. The profit share ratio of the government would be 55%-85% for both gas and oil.
Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips has offered to invest $23.5m to conduct 2D-seismic survey of 2,347 line-km, 3D-seismic survey of a 500sq-km area and drill one exploration well in block 7. The profit-sharing ratio for the government would be 55%-80% for both gas and oil.
On February 17, Bangladesh signed two deals with India’s state-owned ONGC Videsh Limited and Oil India Limited to start oil and gas exploration in offshore shallow blocks 4 and 9.
Earlier, international biddings were called under the PSC in 1993, 1997 and 2008.