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Cabinet may approve 3rd round bidding next week

BSS, Dhaka
Energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman yesterday said the cabinet is going to approve the third round of bidding for gas exploration as his ministry completed all initiatives to launch exploration of offshore reserves in the deep sea.
"The cabinet is expected to approve the proposal next week allowing us to go for seismic survey for deep sea exploration, after years of suspension of exploration activities," he told a roundtable on the
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current scenario of energy sector in Bangladesh arranged by Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI).
Rahman, also the chairman of Board of Investment (BOI), however said the energy ministry did not want to explore all the reserves simultaneously as it might expose the country to pressures of foreign explorers or IOCs for exporting gas.
He also said unlike the onshore exploration, the deep-sea exploration would require some extra studies and exercises under a separate set of policies, which was now being finalised. British company Cairn Energy is currently the lone offshore explorer in the country under a previous bidding.
Dispelling growing speculations about the dwindling energy resources from traditional fossil fuels, the energy adviser said he believed Bangladesh did not need to worry about energy security for several decades. The country has a total reserve of 100 tcf (trillion cubic feet) gas equivalent reserves, of which 30 tcf come from gas and the rest from coal, he added.
Former chairman of Power
Development Board (PDB) Nuruddin M Kamal, however, disagreed with the adviser saying that the coals would add as high as 10 tcf to the total reserve, which he said was suggested by contemporary studies.
Mahmudur Rahman also said like India and China, Bangladesh should use coal instead of gas for producing power and keep the precious resource for more important uses.
Joining the discussion Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hassanul Haque Inu echoed with several other speakers saying the foreign firms were being benefited in the exploration process at the cost of the local ones, including the staterun Petrobangla and Bapex.
Former foreign secretary and BOI chairman Farooq Sobhan said if efficiently handled under a proBangladesh and investment friendly policy, the energy sector could lead the country to prosperity doubling the export, especially in the light of free trade arrangements like Safta.
BCI President AK Azad chaired the function, which was addressed by members of the chamber.