Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The much expected survey on offshore hydrocarbon blocks may start this year as state-run Petrobangla inked the final deal with a Norwegian-US joint venture TGS-Schlumberger last week.
The TGS officials have avoided flying into Bangladesh over coronavirus issue, and sent the signed documents to its partner in Bangladesh through express mail.
Having its office in Dhaka, one official of Schlumberger inked the documents with a Petrobangla official in the latter's office at Karwanbazar, said a senior Petrobangla official.
He said the contractor has initiated works to start the survey in September this year.
The bid winner TGS-Schlumberger is expected to survey 22 offshore hydrocarbon blocks in phases.
The blocks cover 81,000-square kilometres having depth ranging from 20 metres to 2,500 metres in the Bay.
On completion of the survey, the JV company will be able to sell the seismic data to the interested international oil companies, or IOCs.
It will help the companies carry out basin evaluation, prospect generation and participation in the bidding for exploration.
The JV company will not receive payments for their work, to be done in two years, from Petrobangla as per the bidding terms.
It would be free to sell the seismic data to the interested IOCs for the next eight years.
The TGS-Schlumberger, however, would have to share data and profits with Petrobangla.
The JV surveying company was selected to carry out the job twice following two separate competitive biddings floated back in 2015.
The initial bid in early 2015 was cancelled and the subsequent bidding in late 2015 has been held up in the past three-and-a-half years.
However, the cabinet committee on economic affairs approved awarding the job to the JV around three and a half years after its selection in late 2015 bidding.
This delay in awarding the job for carrying out seismic survey has kept launching of the much-needed offshore exploration pending and thus prompted import of 'expensive' LNG to meet the mounting demand of natural gas, said energy experts.
Sources said the Norwegian seismic specialist TGS and US oilfield service Schlumberger are currently involved in such a seismic project in the Gulf of Mexico.