Energy Bangla

The Foreign Investors on oil gas sector in Bangladesh demanded a hike in the tariff for offshore oil and gas exploration under the model production sharing contract (PSC) and also sought to allow exploration activities in the onshore blocks of the Bay.
A nine-member delegation of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) led by its Vice-President Geoffrey Strong made the demand during a meeting with the State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid at his office on 8th May.
The delegation comprised of Geoffrey Strong, VP of FICCI and president of Chevron Bangladesh, Jamil Osman, executive director of FICCI, Gary Lye, CEO of Asia Energy Corp. (BD) Pty. Ltd, Faisal Ahmed Chowdhury, chairman of Barkatullah Electro Dynamics Ltd, Edwin G. Bowles, general manager of Kris Energy, Andrew De Garis, president of Santos Sangu Field Ltd, Indranil Lahiri, managing director of Siemens Bangladesh Ltd and Tom Earley, managing director of Conoco Phillips and Sharmila Barathan, director of Corporate Affairs of GE Power and Water.
The representatives of foreign firms said they have been facing many obstacles in implementing projects for bureaucratic bottleneck and urged the state minister to address the issue.
The foreign firms also said they would be able to explore 3-5 trillion cubic of gas in the shortest possible of time if the government allows them to explore oil and gas in onshore blocks.
They also said the specifications for the large-scale power projects are discouraging the investors to participate in tendering process. They also alleged delay in the auditing process of Petrobangla.