Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has approved a proposal of Petrobangla to award the contract for installation of two gas compressors directly to Gazprom despite local firms also bidding on the contract.
Beyond the compressor installations, Hasina's approval covers drilling of 10 wells in different gas fields of the country with help from Gazprom. Petrobangla was exempted from needing to solicit open bids under a special government act of 2010 mandating increasing the country's power and energy supplies as quickly as possible.
According to Petrobangla Chairman Hussain Monsur, his company hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding with Gazprom by next week, Dhaka's The Daily Star reported.
The Gazprom deal for both the compressors and the drilling of wells does not have any financing as yet, and local energy experts estimate that it will take more than $120 million to install the compressors alone, and another $50 million for the 10 wells.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity said, "The Gazprom offer oddly was sent through the diplomatic bag. Then a couple of Gas Transmission Company Ltd officials were asked by Petrobangla to make a rough evaluation of the offer in early July. The offer was evaluated without fixing any technical parameter ...And that could take months to fix."
By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More