Petrobangla has finalized the draft of onshore PSC (Production and Sharing Contract). There are indications that the gas price for the block in the hilly area may be as high as 8 dollars(1,000 cubic feet).

The proposed price is as low as 2 dollars compared to imported LNG, and as high as 5 dollars compared to the previous agreement with multinational companies (Chevron and Tallo).

Chevron Bangladesh is paid 2.76 dollars per thousand cubic feet of gas, while the agreement with Tallo is around 2 dollars. Petrobangla buys gas from the works of three state-owned companies in addition to multinational companies. Sylhet Gas Field Company and Bangladesh Gas Field Company are paid around Tk. 28 per thousand cubic feet, while Bapex is paid around Tk. 112.

On the other hand, the price of LNG imported from Qatar in the first 7 months of the 2024-25 fiscal year was 10.66 dollars and the price of LNG imported from Oman was 10.09 dollars.

The draft PSC of the consultant company was reviewed in a joint meeting. Petrobangla officials, officials of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and Bapex officials participated in it.

An official who participated in the meeting, on condition of anonymity, told Barta24.com that the draft presented 3 types of price formulas. It is proposed to link it with the price of Brent crude oil. That is, if the price of Brent crude increases, the price of gas will increase, and if it decreases, it will decrease. Although the consultant company proposed to make it 9.5 percent, there was discussion about capping it in the joint meeting. There may be a formula so that even if the price of crude increases by many, it will not exceed 8 dollars.

On the other hand, in the offshore PSC, the price of this gas has been kept equal to 10 percent of the crude. Due to the impact of the Ukraine war, the price of crude oil had reached 140 dollars per barrel which is currently close to 70 dollars.

Petrobangla Chairman Rezanur Rahman told Barta24.com, Onshore PSC is being done mainly targeting the mountainous areas. Some observations have been made on the draft of the consultant company Wood Mackenzie. They will update them and submit the draft. We are trying to do it very quickly.

In response to the question of how much the gas price is being determined, the Petrobangla Chairman said, the fixed price cannot be said right now. However, it will be lower than the offshore PSC.

In response to another question, he said, yes, of course, capping can be done because the international energy market is very unstable. So that if the price increases too much for some reason, there is no pressure. And so that investors are not harmed if it decreases too much.

Petrobangla sources said, it has been proposed to keep 10 percent of Bapex's shares here. Bapex will not make any investment in the future. If gas is found, they will invest 10 percent of the capital. That is, there is no risk of BAPEX. If they get gas, they will get a share of the profit by investing capital.

PSC-2023 has been finalized with many concessions, including an increase in the price of gas from the model PSC-2019. The price of gas per thousand cubic feet has been set at 10 percent of the price of Brent crude. That is, if the price of Brent crude is 80 dollars, the price of gas will be 8 dollars. In the previous PSC, the price was fixed at 5.6 dollars and 7.25 dollars in shallow and deep sea, respectively.

After the offshore PSC, the issue of onshore PSC came up for discussion. The tender for onshore blocks 22 and 22(a) (hilly area) is being finalized on the model of that PSC. Since there is not enough information about the Chattogram Hill Tracts, it is difficult to extract oil and gas, building roads, and constructing pipelines if gas is found is expensive. Therefore, it is known that the price is being increased a lot compared to the past onshore PSC.

The first well was drilled in the hilly region of Bangladesh in 1914 (Sitakunda) by the Burma Oil Company. Then in 1922, a well was drilled in Patharia. After that, about 12 wells have been drilled, the last well was drilled in Halda (1998). Of these, gas was found in Semutang 1, 2, 3 and 4, but it was reported that it was not commercially extractable. Information was received that there was little reserve in any other well, and no gas was found in Halda, Semutang-5, and Patiya.

In the report on Semutang-4 well, Keyan said that the reserve is very low, the investment in the pipeline will be expensive. It will be difficult to raise the investment. A 50 MW power plant can be built in the well area.

There are various politics regarding Bangladesh's gas resources. At one time it was said that the country is floating on gas, and at another time it was said that there is no gas and it has to be imported. Due to this political game, the exploration activities can still be said to be in limbo. The first well was drilled in Bangladesh in 1911. In 114 years, about 99 exploration wells have been drilled. Internationally, if 10 wells are drilled and gas is found in one, it is considered successful. In Bangladesh, 29 gas fields have been discovered out of 99 exploration wells drilled. That is, the success rate is three to one. Although Bangladesh's success rate is high, many now think it is a sham.

The 1995 Energy Policy called for drilling 4 exploration wells per year. But no government has been able to come close to that target. At one time, up to 2800 million cubic meters of gas was extracted. As reserves have decreased, production in many wells has decreased. Currently, domestic production has come down to 1870 million cubic meters.

Jatiya Nagorik Party convener Nahid Islam has commented that institutional neutrality of bureaucracy, police and army is necessary for elections.

He said this at an Iftar Mahfil organized by Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) at the Ruposhi Bangla Grand Ballroom of Hotel Intercontinental on Tuesday (March 11).

At the same time, Nahid Islam said, we have been repeatedly talking about the new settlement. We all expect speedy trial of those who were allies of fascism. We want to see visible trial activities. We want to make political decisions about the Awami League through trial. The people gave their verdict against the Awami League on August 5 through a mass uprising.

He also said, we want to see the July Charter, the reform program that the current interim government is carrying out through the National Commission, implemented quickly. The outline of the reforms will be clear to us through the implementation of the July Charter. We want the interim government to quickly implement the other reforms besides the constitution through an ordinance.

This convener of the Nagarik Party said, regarding the elections, we have said that it is possible to hold simultaneous elections for the Legislative Assembly and the Constituent Assembly in the upcoming elections. Through this, we will be able to usher in a new constitution and democracy. We think that everything can be done quickly. It is possible to go to the elections within this stipulated time by completing all the activities that the government has mentioned. But before the elections, the law and order situation must be improved.

He said, we have recently seen that a group is trying to present Bangladesh and Islam in a negative light in the world. Therefore, we, the government, must show a strong stance against terrorism and extremists.

Nahid said, we think that the reconstruction of Bangladesh is not possible in a day. We do not want to go back to the old politics. We want a radical change in the politics of Bangladesh. We want to build national unity against Mujibism and corruption and in favor of democracy and harmony.

Nahid further said, July has created a place for unity and reconciliation in our new Bangladesh. The aspirations of the liberation war for equality, justice and human dignity have been reawakened in us in the July mass uprising. We may have differences of opinion on various issues, there may be arguments and debates. But this does not leave any gap in democratic relations, dialogue and interaction. It is not possible to completely eradicate or defeat fascism without national unity. Let us not forget that the country's danger has not ended yet. The forces opposing Bangladesh are still conspiring. The disunity between politicians and the forces of the uprising can be exploited in various ways by the military, civil bureaucracy, mafia, looting business class and conspirators. So let us always be aware of this issue.

The leader of the Nagorik Party said, we will go to the people with our own goals and ideals. There we will have principled conflicts. But we will never move away from the space of unity that was created for us in the July mass uprising against fascism and for democracy.

Dhaka University students have held a sit-in at Shahbagh intersection, calling Ganajagaran Mancha organizer Lucky Akhter a fascist and demanding her arrest.

They have set a 24-hour deadline for the arrest of Lucky Akhter.

On Tuesday (March 11), at 1:15 am, the students took out a procession from the university's Halpara and took up a position at the Raju Sculpture and Shahbagh Prajonmo Chattar.

Earlier, Musaddiq Ali Ibne Mohammad, a student of the university's Bangla department, called for an immediate demonstration march to protest the attack on the police and demand the arrest of Lucky Akhter, one of the villains of turning the Awami League into a fascist, and other fascist accomplices.

The students raised slogans like ‘Shahbag no more, law te Lucky, tui Hasina tui Hasina, Shahbag has no place in 20th century Bengal, Shahbagis attack, what is the interim doing’ etc.

The students said that fascism was established in Bangladesh through Shahbag. No new Shahbag will be allowed to be built.

At the end of the procession, Mosaddek Ibne Ali, a student of the Bengali department at Shahbag, said that no more Shahbag will be built in 20th century Bengal. There are many fascist allies among the police, but it is also true that many police officers are working with their lives to maintain law and order in the country. They attacked the police to destroy law and order in Bangladesh. Shahbagis including Lucky must be arrested.

Calling on women not to back down in achieving their rights, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhtar said, there is no alternative to women achieving their qualifications; they cannot survive on anyone's mercy. Women's rights must be achieved by women. If women officials and employees come forward to achieve their rights, we will come forward for you with double speed.

She said these things in her speech as the chief guest at a discussion meeting on the occasion of International Women's Day-2025 at the conference room of the Department of Livestock on Tuesday (March 11) morning.

The adviser said, this year's International Women's Day in the country has started with some bad incidents. And through these incidents, an attempt is being made to present the government in a bad light and there are many reasons to believe that. Again, in some cases, women have not yet been provided with security in society. She also said, we do not know the language to describe or condemn the brutality and violence of some people in society.

Calling for direct elections for women in the National Parliament, the adviser said that seats can be reserved for women for a few days. Here, arrangements should be made so that any woman, not just political parties, can participate in the elections. But no previous government has been able to create such a system which is sad for women.

Calling for accelerating work on gender equality, the adviser said that if the work continues at the pace that is being done, there will be equality between men and women in the next century. Therefore, it cannot continue at this pace. It is because of this day that women have been able to raise their basic demands today and speak about their rights.

Mentioning that there are no women or men in fascism - fascism is fascism, he said that fascism in Bangladesh did not develop just because of one person, but rather because of structural reasons. And in this way, one person has become a symbol of fascism, which is very sad.

Chaired by Director of the Department of Livestock Dr. Begum Shamshun Nahar Ahmed, the director general of the department Dr. Md. Abu Sufian, director of administration, Dr. Md. Boyzar Rahman, assistant professor of BCS Livestock Academy, Dr. Kausin Mobasher, Dhaka District Livestock Officer, Basna Akhtar, and deputy director, Dr. Sharmin Samad, also spoke. The welcome speech was delivered by Dr. Tahmina Begum, principal scientific officer of the Livestock Research Institute.