Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) on Tuesday extended the deadline for submitting bids under the offshore oil and gas exploration and development tender by four months, pushing the final date from November 30 this year to March 31, 2027.
According to Petrobangla, the deadline was extended following recent discussions with and requests from several renowned international oil companies (IOCs).
Authorities hope that making data packages more accessible alongside this extended timeline will encourage greater participation from global energy firms in the current bidding round.
On May 24, Petrobangla officially invited international tenders for oil and gas exploration across 15 deep-sea blocks and 11 shallow-sea blocks.
The tender document is priced at $7,000, with options for bidders to submit proposals for specific individual blocks or the entire offshore region, said Petrobangla Director Engineer Md Shoyeb.
So far, three major entities, including Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), have purchased the tender documents.
A previous bidding round initiated in March 2024 attracted interest from seven prominent international companies, including US-based ExxonMobil, with two firms purchasing data packages from Petrobangla.
However, due to political transitions and various other constraints, those companies ultimately refrained from submitting bids, leading to the cancellation of the 2024 round.
Following an evaluation by an inquiry committee formed by the last interim government, several key revisions were introduced to the Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC).
These include reductions in pipeline transport costs from the deep sea to the mainland, lowering the WPPF (Workers' Profit Participation Fund) share from 5 percent to 1.5 percent, and raising ceiling gas prices tied to Brent crude – setting the price up to $11 per thousand cubic feet for deep-sea blocks and $10.50 for shallow-water blocks, compared to fixed rates of $7.25 and $5.60 under the 2019 PSC.
Energy sector analysts point out that despite Bangladesh securing more than 118,813 square kilometres of maritime territory following favourable international verdicts against Myanmar in 2012 and India in 2014, exploration efforts in the Bay of Bengal have long remained sluggish.
With domestic gas production declining from a peak of nearly 2,800 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) down to around 1,620 MMCFD against a daily demand estimated at 4,000 MMCFD and an authorised system load exceeding 5,356 MMCFD, the country continues to face a persistent supply deficit of roughly 1,400 MMCFD.
Officials expect that the revised terms and extended deadline will help revitalise foreign investment and alleviate the growing energy crunch impacting national industrial growth.