Conoco, Tullow asked to initial PSCs for 3 offshore blocks

Petrobangla on Thursday invited US company ConocoPhillips and the Irish company Tullow Oil to initial the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for the three offshore blocks as early as possible.
The state-run corporation, in separate letters to the companies, informed Conoco that the government had decided to award it deep sea Blocks 10 and 11 and told Tullow that it would be awarded shallow sea Block 5.
‘We have sent letters to the companies today, inviting them to initial the Production Sharing Contracts as early as possible. We are hoping that the agreements will be initialled after the Eid vacations,’ Petrobangla’s chairman, Muqtadir Ali, told New Age on Thursday.
This is the first time that the government has officially contacted the companies to ask them to sign the PSCs, in spite of criticism and protest, after they participated in the tender for the blocks in February-May 2008.
Conoco, which submitted tender for eight blocks, and Tullow will be given eight to nine years to complete exploration of the blocks to find deposits of hydrocarbon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month approved Petrobangla’s proposal to award the blocks to the companies after the Cabinet committee on economic affairs, headed by finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, approved the awarding of the blocks on August 24.
Energy officials said that after the representatives of the government, Petrobangla and the two companies initialled the PSCs, the agreements would be sent to the law ministry for being vetted.
‘After the law ministry has vetted the PSCs, they will be signed by all the three parties,’ said an official.
Various rights groups, energy experts and left-leaning political parities have been protesting against the government’s decision to award the blocks on the plea that the PSCs would allow export of up to 80 per cent of the gas extracted by the two companies.
The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, which is spearheading the protests, enforced a half-day hartal in the city to underline the demand for scrapping the government’s decision to include the provision for export of gas in the PSCs.
The committee also said that it would go for a tougher movement after October 16 if the government did not withdraw its decision by that time.
The parliamentary standing committee on the power and energy ministry on Wednesday claimed that the protesters were ‘misleading’ the people and that the PSCs would not allow gas export.
The committee said that the PSC would be discussed in the parliament as demanded by some lawmakers, and the parliamentary committee would hear the leaders of oil and gas committee.