The government is planning to sign a model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) 2024 within
December to explore oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh has already opened bids on 24 offshore blocks, including nine Shallow Sea (SS)
blocks and 15 Deep Sea (DS) blocks.
Nine Shallow Sea (SS) blocks are: SS-01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10 and 11 while 15 Deep Sea (DS)
blocks are: DS-08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.
“We are expected to sign the model PSC styled ‘Bangladesh Offshore Bidding Round 2024’ in
December, 2024,” said Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker, adding, “ Terms and
conditions of the PSC are lucrative and the best ones.”
He was speaking at a press conference at Petrocentre in Dhaka on Sunday about the prospects
of the bidding round invited by Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla).
Prime Minister’s Power and Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury attended the press
conference as the chief guest while State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid was
present as a special guest.
Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Md Nurul Alam chaired the event.
Petrobangla chairman said, “We have given our best effort to make the Bangladesh offshore
model PSC 2024 competitive with peer countries and attractive to the International Oil
Companies (IOCs).”
Prime Minister’s Power and Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury expects the investors
will participate in the bidding round with enthusiasm as he also believes the bidding round is
lucrative in terms of gas and oil prices under the model PSC.
“Gas prices have been linked to international index and 10 percent of Brent crude will be used
for tariff calculation which was fixed on HFO tariff,” he said.
The PM’s Energy Adviser said Petrobangla will bear the contractor’s corporate tax and annual
cost recovery by 75 percent.
According to him, the option to sell the contractor’s share of natural gas in the domestic market
to a third party, at negotiated prices, is subject to Petrobangla’s right of first refusal.
The option to export the contractor’s share of the natural gas is also subject to Petrobangla’s
right of first refusal, Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury added.
State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid also thinks that the bidding round will be
competitive.
“I am very much hopeful the bidding round will be a competitive one as many IOCs have
already shown their interest to participate in the bidding,” he said.
Nasrul Hamid believes the IOCs will be able to procure their bids through joint ventures on a
single basis within the first week of September, 2024.
He said they will start pre-bid meetings with the participants after the upcoming Eid-ul-fitr,
which is a month away.
Energy and Mineral Resources Division secretary Md Nurul Alam said the state-owned
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) will get 10 percent
carried stake from the bidder.
He further said the IOCs will be responsible for occurrence of any untoward incident in any
blocks.
The Energy Secretary informed that Bangladesh has already invited 55 MNO’s to participate in
the latest bidding round.
The companies are: Petronas, Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Oil Company (K.O.C.), PTT Exploration and
Production Public Company Ltd., Petrovietnam, Pertamina, Oil India Limited, Mitsui Oil
Exploration Co Ltd, Kris Energy Ltd., ONGC Videsh Limited, Bahrain Petroleum Co. (BAPCO),
Daewoo International Corporation, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), China National
Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), CNPC International Ltd, SINOPEC, Idemitsu Oil & Gas Co., Ltd.,
Pearl Energy Limited, Medco Energi Global Pte Ltd., Pavilion Energy Pte. Ltd., and POSCO
International.
They also include: JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation, Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company (ADNOC), Qatar Petroleum (QP), Reliance Energy, India, Inpex Corporation, Mubadala
Energy, Carnarvon Energy Ltd., Santos Ltd., Woodside Petroleum, Caltex Australia Limited, BHP
Billiton Limited, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy), ExxonMobil,
Repsol Energy North America Corporation, Murphy Exploration & Production Company,
Talisman USA, Cenovus Energy inc, Suncor Energy Inc., Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX),
Petrobras, Equinor (Statoil ASA), Gazprom International, Harbour Energy (Former Premier Oil
Far East Ltd), Shell, British Petroleum (BP), Rosneft, Novatek, Total Energies, EniSpA, Sonatrach
Petroleum Corporation, Tullow Oil plc and Cairn Energy PLC.
