Energy ministry evaluating two foreign proposals

CHATTOGRAM, Nov 21: The energy ministry now seeks to appoint an operations and maintenance (O&M) contractor on a G2G basis instead of the Open Tender Method (OTM) for operating the Single Point Mooring (SPM) with double pipeline.

And to this effect, the ministry is now evaluating two foreign proposals- one from China and another from Indonesia.

Despite completion of the works of SPM, its operation is being delayed centring on appointment of an O&M contractor.

Earlier, the government had taken decisions of picking an O&M contractor through the Open Tender Method (OTM) instead of G2G basis. But now the energy ministry of Bangladesh government has started evaluating two foreign proposals on the G2G basis for operation of the SPM.

Sources said the implementing organisation Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) invited tender for appointment of the O&M contractor. The tender is an international competitive bidding process. BPC is seeking a consultant to oversee the O&M of the SPM, which is a crucial piece of infrastructure for Bangladesh's oil and gas sector.

The selected consultant will be responsible for ensuring the efficient and safe operation of the SPM, which includes the mooring and transfer of crude oil and petroleum products.

Sources said BPC invited international tender in this regard on 30 April last to appoint a contractor for the system's operation and maintenance. The delay was prolonged further, as BPC has pushed the bid submission deadline for appointing an O&M contractor to July 8 from the original June 19. However, only two foreign tenders have been dropped for appointment of a consultant for the SPM operation on July 8 last, the last date for submission of tender. One of them belongs to Indonesia and another is from a Netherlands firm.

After the submission of tenders, BPC started evaluations. But the offers of those tenders were not satisfactory. For this reason, BPC sent it to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources for a decision. However, the ministry has already cancelled those tenders. Now the ministry is taking the decision to appoint contractor on G2G basis evaluating the proposals of foreign companies.

The SPM has remained idle for nearly a year despite successful commissioning in April and formal handover in August 2024, resulting in significant financial losses for state-run BPC. All works of SMP were completed in March 2024, commissioning was completed in April 2024, but operations of the SPM will be delayed until the end of the current year as the government is not giving the contract to the Chinese company China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited (CPPEC) and decided to appoint O&M contractors through the open tender method (OTM) instead of the government-to-government (G2G) basis. So, despite the work of SPM having already been completed, the operation will be delayed due to the delay in appointing O&M contractor by OTM.

Earlier, the government decided to sign an agreement with the operator CPPEC for the management of SPM. Later, the decision to award the contract for the O&M of the SPM with a double pipeline project to the CPPEC has been cancelled. Earlier, the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs (ACCEA) had approved a proposal from BPC, the implementing agency of the SPM project, to sign the O&M contract with the Chinese company during its meeting on November 21, 2024.

Meanwhile, BPC has constituted a separate company for maintenance and operation of petroleum pipelines. BPC has already built up four pipeline projects including SPM with double pipeline from Moheshkhali to Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, Chattogram-Dhaka Pipeline, Pitalganj-Kurmitola Pipeline.

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