The approval of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) must be obtained before signing an agreement to set up a power plant. BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed said that the Power Division has been informed of such a legal obligation through a letter.

He made this comment at a workshop organized at the BERC conference room on Tuesday (February 18).

The BERC Chairman said that the Regulatory Commission is now going to play a proactive role. I hope that it will be proven through our work.

In response to a question, he said that the commission has so far only announced wholesale and retail electricity tariffs. But the law has given BERC the authority to approve agreements to set up power plants. I have asked BERC to take approval before taking up the project. They will be able to tell me why the previous commissions did not do this. Along with the law, the surrounding situation is also a big issue.

How justified is the proposal to increase gas prices in new industries? Why was the discriminatory gas price taken into account in the industry? In response to a question, the BERC Chairman said, we want to hear everyone's opinions, so a hearing will be held. A final decision will be made after taking the opinions of all parties.

In the past, it has been seen that consumers objected, but a different decision was made after discussing with the ministry. In response to such a question, he said, since subsidies exist in these sectors, the amount of subsidy the government will provide has to be taken into account in the tariff. That is why the issue of discussion with the ministry is involved.

In response to another question, he said, now Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation no longer determines the price of any product. Earlier, they used to announce the price of several products including jet fuel. Now BERC will finalize the price of jet fuel. Petrol, octane, diesel and kerosene are being determined through an executive order. The regulations are awaiting approval. Hopefully, BERC will determine the prices of these too soon.

BERC Director (Gas) Didarul Alam said, although BERC was formed by law in 2003, it made its formal debut in 2008. In 2008, the first electricity price adjustment was made, and since then, the wholesale price has been adjusted in 9 phases, the retail price in 10 phases and the transmission cost in 2 phases. On the other hand, the first gas price order was issued in 2009. So far, gas prices have been increased in 9 phases. Currently, the proposal to increase gas prices in new industries is awaiting hearing.

Another function of BERC is to resolve disputes. Out of 677 complaints received since its establishment, 544 have been resolved. That is, 80 percent of the disputes have been resolved. On the other hand, out of 239 complaints from consumers, 232 (97.07 percent) have been resolved, he said.

The workshop organized for members of the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB), commission members Syeda Sultana Razia, Md. Mizanur Rahman, Md. Abdur Razzak and Shahid Sarwar.

The obligation of feasibility study through a third party in oil and gas exploration remained. Feasibility study through a third party is considered one of the obstacles to the backwardness of the energy sector. In whose interest is it maintained, who will benefit from it is the big question now!

On the one hand, feasibility study is a waste of time, and on the other hand, it is a waste of money. After much deliberation during the previous government, the process of exempting from feasibility study in oil and gas exploration was started. The approval process was almost in the final stage. Janendra Nath Sarkar, former chairman of Petrobangla, played a leading role in the work.

His argument was, if we dig a well, we may get gas, or we may not. If we get gas, there will be a lot of profit, and if we don't get it, the entire investment is zero, what is the point of feasibility study here again? This is not a bridge-culvert that we will verify the feasibility. The return may come from here, it may not come again. Before we finalize the well drilling site, a lot of work including seismic survey has to be done, which is also a kind of feasibility study. So why should we verify the feasibility through a third party.

The consultant recruitment process is a very long process, and also very expensive. The work that will cost Tk. 50 to 60 lakh through a consultant. Petrobangla can complete the same work for a nominal price of Tk. 50 thousand to Tk. 1 lakh. The work that takes a consultant a few months to do, Bapex-Petrobangla can complete the work in 15 days. The work that the consultant does also depends on the information of Petrobangla and with the help of their people. A group from the middle takes some money and leaves. Many wells have failed in the past and this may be the fate in the future too. If 10 exploration wells are drilled and gas is found in 1, it is considered commercially successful. In Bangladesh, this rate of achievement is three to one.

A source in Petrobangla said that the Planning Ministry had dropped the feasibility study through a third party in the case of exploration wells, 2D, and 3D. It would have been finalized only after receiving the approval of the Cabinet Division. But it has been canceled without giving approval.

Petrobangla Chairman Rezanur Rahman confirmed the cancellation to Barta24.com. He said that he has rejected the proposal to exempt the feasibility study through a third party. If the DPP is above Tk 50 crore, the feasibility study will have to be done through a third party.

The current Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Mohammad Saiful Islam, also tried hard to get exemption from the feasibility study. He gave a letter to the Secretary of the Planning Division.

In that letter, he requested the Energy and Mineral Resources Department to exempt the feasibility study through a third party for the investment project above Tk. 50 crore issued by the Planning Division in June 2022 for the formulation of the DPP.

In that letter, he wrote that the letter sent earlier to the Planning Commission seeking exemption from the obligation to conduct a feasibility study is being reconsidered by the Planning Commission. He wrote that it is possible to conduct a feasibility study without additional expenditure by forming a committee comprising the relevant experts of Bapex in the fastest time and in a cost-effective manner. In the case of important projects, many steps have to be followed in completing the feasibility study of the project. It takes 6 to 12 months to get the final feasibility study report after following all these activities. In addition, 30 to 40 lakh taka is required for each project for the study. An example of how the DPP complexity affects Mobarakpur, Pabna, can be this example. Work started with a 10,000 PSI (pressure square inch) blowout control preventer (BOP) to dig a well in Mobarakpur. During the digging of the well, it was found that the internal pressure was 12,000 PSI. The pressure was increasing further, forcing the work to be stopped and the DPP to be revised since there was no financial resource of 15,000 BOP in the DPP. It took a long time to approve the RDPP. Bangladesh did not learn from this either.

Many such complications can arise, which are very difficult to predict in advance. How many tools have to be purchased, they are excluded from the list of PPR, and the price is also unknown. In that case, when buying, there is a long process, preparation of requisitions, store clearance, technical specification committee, writing to the manufacturing company asking for possible prices, and then in some cases, approval from the cabinet regarding the purchase. It takes more than 2 years to do all this. The Division of Energy and Mineral Resources has to face all such complications. However, the concerned company has to keep the wells unprotected and look at the file.

Amjad Hossain, former Managing Director of Bapex, told Barta24.com, "Feasibility studies often hinder work in oil and gas exploration. I used to work in many ways. In the case of exploration wells, it was said without land acquisition. I then added a condition that if gas is found, I will acquire the land immediately. During the excavation of Shahbazpur No. 2, I temporarily acquired 7.5 acres of land for the road and well. If gas is found, it is acquired permanently immediately. That condition was added to the DPP.

He said, there was a lack of foresight in the case of Pabna, decisions should have been taken based on geophysical history. Many of us do not have transparency, many do not have the idea, the issue of risk should be kept in the DPP. In this case, the PDK should be smart and diplomatic. In my time, I would have kept some extra money, If not needed, the money would have been returned.

Energy experts believe that no one considered it necessary to take into account that the energy sector is a specialized sector. Some people act with foresight. If there is a crisis in the country, they can import LNG from abroad, hire foreign contractors. This allows them to make commission trade, which is not the case when a domestic company digs wells and extracts gas.

An official of Bapex told Barta24.com on condition of anonymity that an organization of former bureaucrats (IIFC) works in the field of feasibility studies. Those who are now unable to complete the work. That company has close contacts with top bureaucrats. They may be working as catalysts here because if the feasibility study is closed, their income will decrease. Now they are charging Tk. 40 lakh for each project. Our people may be working with our data, they are just giving a seal. And Petrobangla wanted us to finalize it by holding a meeting with our own people, our own information, and BUET teachers.

Energy experts believe that the current gas crisis is due to the lack of special attention to this sector. Exploration and development cannot be considered as building bridges and roads. And if exploration is not accelerated, the gas crisis cannot be eliminated.

Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin has expressed hope that the shortage of edible oil will be resolved in the next 7 to 10 days.

He expressed this optimism in response to questions from reporters after the meeting of the Advisery Council Committee on the current labor situation of industrial establishments in Beximco Industrial Park at the meeting room of the Ministry of Shipping at the Secretariat on Wednesday (February 12).

When attention was drawn to the issue of excessive prices being charged due to the oil crisis in the market, the Commerce Adviser said, "At the moment, if you look at all the Ramadan products - dates, chickpeas, pulses, sugar, only oil has a problem. I hope that the oil market will go from stable to down in the next 7 to 10 days and the supply shortage will be resolved."

He said, "There is no chance of instability in the prices of chickpeas, beans, dates, pulses and sugar with Ramadan ahead." There is no shortage of these products.

Bangladesh Bank will announce the Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for the second half of the 2024-25 fiscal year (January-June, 2025) today. This information was given in a press release of Bangladesh Bank yesterday, Sunday.

It said that Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur will officially announce the MPS at a press conference at the central bank's headquarters. It also said that the governor will brief journalists about the results of the current MPS in terms of managing inflation, increasing private sector credit flow and strengthening economic growth. The deputy governors, head of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), executive director of the research department, spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank and other officials will be present at the event, the release mentioned.

It is learned that the central bank is going to announce the monetary policy for the second half of the current fiscal year by keeping the policy interest rate unchanged. There is no major change in the exchange rate management either. The policy is being announced mainly because inflation has declined slightly and reserves are stable at 20 billion dollars. Considering inflation control, exchange rate stabilization, and increasing reserves as the main challenges, Bangladesh Bank announced the monetary policy for the first half of the current fiscal year on July 18 last year. The monetary policy announcement was only made on the website instead of holding a press conference.

When the new governor took office, the interest rate on ROPO used by banks for short-term loans from the central bank was 8.50 percent. It was increased by 50 basis points in three stages to 10 percent. As a result, the interest rate at the consumer level has now exceeded 16 percent. Even then, there was talk of raising the policy interest rate again as inflation did not decrease. However, according to the latest estimate, inflation has decreased slightly. For this reason, the policy interest rate will not be increased for the time being. However, considering investment and employment, businessmen have been demanding a reduction rather than an increase.

Those involved said that the first six months of the interim government have not brought any major relief to the economy. However, the continuous deterioration that was taking place in various areas has been prevented. Especially due to the strict policy against money laundering, the foreign exchange reserves are no longer decreasing as before. Rather, they have been stable at 20 billion dollars for a long time. Last Wednesday, the reserves stood at 20.20 billion dollars. Before the current government took office, it was 20.39 billion dollars at the end of last July; down from $48 billion, which had fallen to that level. Of this, the fact that the reserves remained at the same level even after paying off the previous dues of $3.3 billion is being considered a relief for the time being. Again, the dollar rate is stable at Tk. 122 to Tk. 124. In the first month of the year, inflation has decreased to 9.94 percent in January. It was 10.89 percent at the end of the previous month.