Five international geophysics companies yesterday submitted tender documents to conduct a 2D seismic marine survey of Bangladesh’s offshore areas.
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.
“Five interested companies submitted tender documents to conduct a 2D seismic marine survey,” Chairman Istiaque Ahmad of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, commonly known as Petrobangla, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“We have formed a tender evaluation committee headed by a director to evaluate the documents. After they are evaluated, Petrobangla will select a company and enter into a 10-year deal with it. Petrobangla will share in the profits from selling the data,” he said.
The five companies are Chinese company BGP, Norwegian-US joint venture TGS-NOPEC and Schlumberger, Norway-based Dolphin Geophysical Company, Russian Dalmorneftegeophysica (DMNG) and UK-based Geotrace.
Petrobangla earlier invited tenders from international geophysics firms to conduct the survey on a non-exclusive multi-client basis.
After a three-year pause, the government is planning to formulate a fresh production sharing contract (PSC) model to award offshore hydrocarbon blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
The survey, the first of its kind in the country’s history, was deemed necessary after Bangladesh’s maritime boundaries with Myanmar and India were settled recently.
The maritime border settlement awarded Bangladesh a territorial sea covering 118,000 square kilometres and an exclusive economic zone extending to 200 nautical miles.
The survey coverage area is around 118,000 square kilometres with water depth ranging from 20 metres to greater than 2,500 metres.
