The state-run Petrobangla has moved afresh to issue re-tender for carrying out 2D (two-dimensional) non-exclusive multi-client seismic surveys within the country’s offshore areas, as the energy ministry has scrapped the previous tendering, said officials.
“We’ve prepared for re-issuing tender in line with the instruction from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR),” Petrobangla chairman Istiaque Ahmad told on Thursday.
Petrobangla floated the international tender for carrying out the job by reputed international firms to explore offshore hydrocarbon (HC) deposits.
It received five bids – the joint venture of Tomlinson Geophysical Services Inc and Schlumberger, Russian DMNG JSC, the US-based Geotrace Technologies, China National Petroleum Corporation BGP Inc and Norwegian Dolphin Geophysical – on close of the bid submission deadline on March 29.
Petrobangla subsequently evaluated all the ‘responsive’ bids, and sent a proposal to MPEMR for selecting the most competitive one for awarding the job.
But instead of selection, MPEMR cancelled the tendering process, and instructed Petrobangla to go for a re-tender, the Petrobangla chairman said.
The area for the survey covers around 75,000 sq-km in the Bay with the water depth ranging from 20 metres and above 2,500 metres in 20 offshore blocks.
Petrobangla will not pay the awarded companies for the survey. Instead, they will be allowed to trade the data with the IOCs, interested in taking part in the next offshore bidding, he also said.
The bid winning companies will share the profit and data with Petrobangla. The contractors will have exclusive right to license the project data.
It will be a 10-year agreement, under which the survey companies will get two years for data acquisition, processing and interpretation.
A new bidding round to carry out oil and gas exploration in the Bay will be floated on the basis of the survey, said an official at Petrobangla.
Then Petrobangla will be able to fix rational terms, competitive with global market, for awarding new offshore blocks.
This was the first time Bangladesh floated tender for conducting 2D seismic survey alone by foreign firms.
The country’s offshore areas are now well-demarcated, following the verdicts from international courts. There is immense potential of getting hydrocarbon in its maritime territory, as both India and Myanmar have already discovered substantial volume of gas in the Bay.