18-07-08 Bangladesh has selected US-based ConocoPhillips and Ireland's Tullow Oil to explore nine offshore blocks offered in the country's latest bid round launched in February this year.
ConocoPhillips has been awarded 8 deepwater blocks and Tullow Oil 1 shallow water block, Jalal Ahmed, chairman of state-run Petrobangla said.

Bangladesh had offered a total of 28 offshore blocks -- 20 deepwater and 8 shallow water -- in this round and received bids from 7 companies for 10 deepwater blocks and 3 shallow water blocks. The other companies included Australia's Santos, China's CNOOC International, Korea National Oil Corp., and relatively unknown Longwoods Resources and Comtrack Services.
Petrobangla expects to sign a final exploration contract with the companies by October, Ahmed said. ConocoPhillips will invest $ 445 mm and Tullow Oil $ 50 mm in exploratory work on the 9 blocks, he added.

Bangladesh currently produces around 1.6 bn cfpd of natural gas and 5,500 bpd of condensate. There are 5 international oil companies -- Chevron, Cairn Energy, Tullow Oil, Niko Resources and Total -- operating in the country.
The government is keen to speed up exploration efforts amid fears that the country could run out of gas by 2015 if no new gas discoveries are made. Bangladesh's existing gas reserves are pegged at 8 tcf, sufficient to meet demand until 2015. It is estimated that to meet demand until 2025, at least 24 tcf of gas is required.