Himalayan News Service

Dhaka, March 13:

Bangladesh plans to go for a third round of bidding for international gas and oil companies to conduct surveys and explore new offshore gas fields in the Bay of Bengal. At least five companies from Thailand, Malaysia, China and the US have expressed interest in conducting surveys for gas in the deep sea, the New Age daily reported today quoting state minister for energy and mineral resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain. For these companies and others, the government plans to go for a third round of bidding for the offshore gas fields, especially for blocks 19, 20 and 21, Hossain said. Bangladesh was divided into 23 blocks for hydrocarbon exploration after the government amended the Petroleum Act in 1993. P TTE Exploration and Production Company of Thailand, Thai-based US company Cadogan Manning Group, Malaysia’s Pexco NV and US-based ERG industries are among the companies that have expressed interest in conducting surveys for new gas fields.