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Several foreign companies keen to search for oil

By Toufique Imrose Khalidi
Several major International oil companies (lOCs), willing to undertake ventures in search of oil in Bangladesh s offshore and onshore areas, have approached the Govern ment and negotiations are under way for contracts on production sharing basis.
Authoritative sources told The Daily Star yesterday that preliminary discussions were held with at least four companies in the past few weeks and officials of two other compa nles are due this week.
The companies which have already talked to Bangladesh authorities are the Occidental Petroleum of US, TEX ACO=UNOCAL of the US. Holand Sea Search of the Netherlands, the United Meri-dien International Company of the US companies which are due this week are the AMOCO and the BHP-Utah.
They are expected to come up with proposals soon in writing.
Energy sector donors want Bangladesh to Invite international private capital for
petroleum exploration, and of late this view Is also gaining ground among the country s energy sector policy planners.
"Exploration, which is Inherently risky, should not be financed from borrowings or scarce ADP annual development programme funds but from funds.set aside from sec tor revenue, or from foreign risk capital, particularly from private International oil companies under appropriate arrangements." said a recent World Bank report.
According to the sources, the Government would be "pragmatic" tn its response to the lOCs' Interests. "We will have to be and we will be pragmatic in the discussions', said a highly-placed source in the Energy Ministry.
There has to be mutuality In the contract terms... otherwise why would they (lOCs) come and invest?", said the source requesting customary anonymity.
The sources said that the officials at the Energy Ministry and the Bangladesh Oil. Gas and Mineral Corporation (BOGMC) were consulting similar production sharing contracts (PSC) of some other countries like India. Pakistan and Burma.
Sounding a note of optimism. they said that the terms and conditions of the contracts would vary depending on the "risks and prospects Involved
The BOGMC or Petrobangla experts are also working on certain necessary amendments to the 1988 model production sharing contract prepared by Dr Kamal Hosc^i and his associates.
An authoritative source at the Petrobangla said that the 1988 mode! was basically "oil-based* and spoke nothing about gas discovery
The officials are also think' ing about 9hanges in the taxation system that reduces the possibility of lOCs coming for risky exploration jobs
Meanwhile, the Occidental, popularly known as Oxy. Is In terested in two blocks in the Sylhct basin, one In which Scimitar was operating and an adjacent block. Last month, the Cabinet decided against the extension of the scandalous Scimitar deal signed in 1987
The Occidental indication came when the world renowned company's president David Martin met Energy Minister early last month Martin, accompanied by an Arab investor Hany M Salam, came to Dhaka and also held talks with the Energy Ministry and Petrobangla men
Officials quoted the Oxy chief executive as saying that a formal proposal would be made later this month
The TEXACO-UNOCAL team that had been tn Dhaka September 13-15 reiterated their old proposal for two blocks.
The US consortium has been negotiating for about three years.
The Holland Sea Search that came last week was eager for an offshore block comprising Sandwip and some parts of Noakhali and Chittagong. The Dutch company Is working tn the Gulf of Mexico.
The UMIC of Hustor. has asked for a block in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The US company's representatives held talks with Dhaka Officials late last month.
The AMOCO, on the other hand, has been invited by Bangladesh authorities to look into the prospects of drilling the dry wells. The company has the technology and expert ence in deep drilling... and we will ask it to do some rc-study if they can go deeper, said an authoritative Petrobangla source.