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Bangladesh has significant gas reserves: US envoy

Export to India, other productive uses should be considered

By Staff Correspondent
US Ambassador to Bangladesh John C Holzman has said the country has more gas reserves than the domestic economy can productively use and the potential uses of gas including export to India should * be considered.
“The potential down stream uses (of gas) could be enormous — private sector fertiliser factories, cement plants, the foundation of a petrochemical in-dustiy, and yes. export to India." ne said.
"Planning needs to begin now. Bangladesh cannot wait until it has met its own domestic needs to decide, for example, whether to export gas." the US envoy remarked.
John C Holzman was speak ing as guest of honour at the monthly luncheon meeting of the American Chamber
(AmCham) at Sheraton Hotel in
the city yesterday.
Holzman, who took up as ambassador in Dhaka in Au-Sst, said. "Bear in mind that k major oil companies have a believed that Bangladesh significant gas reserves. But they would not invest the huge amounts necessary to develop these resources unless they were confident of an accessible and reliable market for gas.
"New private sector-oriented government policies and the prospect of exporting gas to neighbouring countries have all combined to change this perspective Now the oil companies are competing aggressively for the opportunity to explore and develop Bangladesh s potential gas reserves." the ambassador observed.
Holzman said that the devel-
opment of gas fields could mean
much for Bangladesh both in terms of Jobs and additional foreign exchange.
Emphasising that planning on the use of gas should start now. Including considering export to India. Holzman stated. The lead times for infrastructure development are too great and the situation too dynamic. My government has offered to pay the costs for Bangladesh to commission a study on the range of options before it. Such a study would be a first step towards an open, public debate on how to use the gas resources. "
The envoy noted. "American business has awakened to the potential of Bangladesh, especially In the energy and power sectors, to a large degree due to Bangladesh government s new willingness to rely on private investment."
He went on "The new private power policy has attracted the attention of such excellent American companies as AES, Smith Cogeneration. New England Power and Enron. Mobil Oil. has just concluded an agreement with Jamuna Oil for a 25 million US dollar lubricant plant."
The US oil companies, he said, are now competing• aggressively for the opportunity to explore and develop Bangladesh'^ potential gas recompanies as Halliburton. Occidental. United Meridien, Ok-land and Unocal are already involved while other firms like Chevron. Texaco. Mobil, Union Texas and Enron 'will follow1.
The ambassador said the gas reserves already found are large and the seismic work being performed Indicates even larger discoveries.
Stating that Bangladesh probably has more gas reserves than its domestic economy can productively use. Holzman said the exploratory well at Sangu may well produce enough gas to power a 2500 mw power plant for 25 years, pointing out that 2500 mw is about the size of Bangladesh's current electricity needs.
He, however, cautioned. “A new wave of political instability would have a similar impact to-
day." mentioning that "the political conflicts (Turing 1994-96 did affect the economy."
He observed, "A potential for vast investments in the energy and power sectors, a prospect of more rapid economic growth and, most importantly, Job creation — is a far cry from the situation my predecessor. David Merrill, faced during his tenure here.”
Holzman said. "I understand that most Bangladeshi political parties at one time or another — and sometimes together in a united front — have Invoked hartals. I am told that in the colonial era. hartals were a consensus measure reserved for those occasions when no other method of seeking redress appeared to offer hope. They were a last resort, an exceptional means of political expression, not the expected norm."
The US envoy noted "over the last few years hartals have been invoked much more frequently, often for narrow purposes. and often without regard for their effects on the nation's welfare as a whole. These hartals have not led to dialogue or compromise.
“rhe alternative to hartals is to resolve differences through reasoned debates in Parliament It is incumbent on all sides — and most especially the government, which must take a lead in these matters — to establish a spirit of tolerance and accommodation in Parliament."
Praising the Bangladeshi entrepreneurial spirit, the envoy mentioned by name Harunur Rashid Khan of Monno Ceramic for successfully competing in . most demanding North European and North American markets.
He made a special reference to women in Bangladesh. "Consider the hundreds of thousands of women garment workers who go to their Jobs each day and earn salaries. Only a few years ago, Bangladeshi women generally did not work outside their homes. History may well record these women garment workers and the entrepreneurs who employ them as the real heroes of late twentieth century Bangladesh.
On US-Bangladesh relations, the envoy said it goes beyond the provision of aid. The US and Bangladesh, he said, cooper atea in many peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Somalia. In the Gulf and in Cambodia. At home, the US Embassy together with ILO, UNICEF and the BG MEA. developed a child labour agreement that has become a model followed by the world
The US, he said, has also become a destination for many Bangladeshi young people seek ing education. "Literally thousands of Bangladeshi scholars have studied in American universities. Some have not returned to their homeland, but many are here contrfbuUng to a better future for Bangladesh." Holzman mentioned