Earlier, the Russian company Gazprom used a special law to get work done at high prices. After the special law was repealed, it has now started racing for the Bhola-Barishal-Dhaka pipeline on a G2G basis.
The company always got work at more than double the price due to the previous government. The DPP (Development Project Proposal) was finalized considering the general work cost, but in the case of Gazprom, a formal DPP was issued based on how much money to pay. During the Awami League regime, the issue of giving work to Gazprom at high prices was an open secret. The state company Bapex could have dug a well for Tk. 70 to Tk. 80 crore, but Gazprom was given Tk. 220 crore to dig the same well. In this way, there have been allegations of wasting several thousand crore taka of the state in digging 20 wells.
As the fugitive Awami League lobbyists went into hiding, a new group emerged. They have started lobbying to provide work at high rates. It is said that they have continued to put pressure on the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and Petrobangla.
The issue of bringing the island district to the mainland through the Bhola-quoted gas pipeline has been under discussion for several years. The government has given in-principle approval subject to partial changes in the pipeline route. It has been decided to leave the Bhola-Barishal section of the Bhola-Barishal-Khulna gas pipeline unchanged and build the Bhola-Barishal-Dhaka (Aminbazar) pipeline.
Petrobangla Chairman Rezanur Rahman told Barta24.com that the in-principle decision has been made for the Bhola-Barishal-Dhaka pipeline. The feasibility study of the Bhola-Barishal pipeline has been completed, and a consultant is being appointed to study the feasibility of the Barishal-Dhaka pipeline.
In response to a question, the Petrobangla chairman said that there will also be a Barishal-Khulna pipeline, but the first phase will be a Bhola-Barishal-Dhaka pipeline.
The Bhola-Barishal pipeline has been estimated at Tk. 2,600 crore. Gazprom people are rushing to get the job. The ministry, Petrobangla and GTCL are rushing to get it. Some are being tempted and others are being pressured in various ways, according to sources in the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
Not only the pipeline work, but also the work of the canceled 5 well drilling projects is being done at a high price. The runaway Awami League government had finalized the process of giving them to Gazprom under a special law. When the interim government came to power and canceled the special law, that process was stopped. Bapex saved several hundred crores of money.
Tenders for those 5 well drilling projects have already been invited. The last date for submitting tenders was February 3. Several tenders have also been submitted. But for some mysterious reason, Bapex has extended the time by another 46 days without opening the tender. Questions have started to arise about whether the strategy of wasting time is to give special benefits to Gazprom. This gives Gazprom an opportunity to put pressure on the higher echelons of the government regarding those wells.
A letter sent to the ministry regarding those wells of Gazprom has been presented in such a way. It would seem that Gazprom has emerged as a savior in this country. The letter states that Gazprom has contributed to the country's energy security by drilling 20 wells since 2012. Another paragraph states that if the work of drilling 5 wells is not given, the bill for reed and manpower demobilization will have to be paid. The reality is that whenever they remove the rig, they will get the demobilization bill as per the agreement.
But it has been presented in such a way that if the work is not done, the money will have to be paid. Bapex has consciously avoided the issue of high prices in the letter. Many have questioned Gazprom's apparent neutrality with the PD of the 5-well drilling project.
Dr. Amirul Islam, a consultant to Gazprom's Bangladeshi agent, told Barta24.com that primary talks are underway at the ministry level regarding the pipeline. We have brought Gazprom engineers to show them around the river on a speedboat. We have special technologies that can be used here.
He claimed that the pipeline issue is a very high-tech issue, for which Gazprom is very suitable. Very few companies have the experience of building pipelines in the sea like Gazprom. And the quality of our work is very high. Proof can be found only by verifying the wells we have drilled.
Gazprom claims high-quality work, but reality says otherwise. A confidential report on the wells drilled by Gazprom has raised objections about the quality. The report in this regard (November 17, 2016) was sent to Petrobangla with great confidentiality. The report highlights examples of poor quality work carried out by Bapex in the well.
Gazprom completed drilling the Titas 20 well on May 19, 2013. The Bapex report shows that production stopped within a short time due to poor quality drilling and ancillary activities. Production stopped due to excess water entering the well during test production. Later, remedial work was done to avoid possible damage to the reservoir. For this, Gazprom collected an additional bill of Tk. 136.63 crore.
Another well drilled by Gazprom, the Titas 21 well, started production on December 30, 2013. Within just 6 months, production stopped (self-killed) when excessive water and sand (35 mmscf) came in with the gas (on June 20, 2014). Mining experts believe that such problems usually occur when tubing and cementing are not proper. Later, while performing a work over through Bapex to activate the lift, an error was detected in the tubing placement.
This information-based work was done by the then Managing Director Engineer Atikuzzaman. He was supposed to receive a reward for this work. But in just 6 days, he was removed from the post of MD of Bapex. After Atikuzzaman's fate, no one else dared to speak out against Gazprom.
