Petrobangla
Risky way of supplying gas in cylinders: Petrobangla body for strong safety rules
A technical committee of Petrobangla recommended formulating separate safety and security guidelines to allow any private company to supply gas from Bhola to local industries as CNG (compressed natural gas).
“We’ve submitted our report to the top management of Petrobangla recently”, a member of the committee, preferring anonymity, told UNB.
He said the committee also recommended involvement of the Department of Explosive in ensuring compliance of certain security protocols. The committee also wants strong monitoring by the RPGCL to ensure specific procedures in gas transportation for motor vehicles.
The state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, or Petrobangla, formed the committee last month after three local CNG refuelling companies expressed their interest to carry natural gas in CNG form from Bhola to Dhaka in trucks and covered vans.
Read: Search for gas: Chevron plans drilling in Bibiyana’s flanked area in April
Each truck or covered van will have a good number of gas cylinders, each having 90-kg gas containing capacity.
These companies—Intraco CNG, Super CNG and Oblivious—submitted separate proposals to the Sundarban Gas Company Limited (SGCL), a Petrobangla subsidiary responsible for distribution of natural gas from Bhola field to the southern and eastern parts of the country.
The SGCL forwarded the proposals to Petrobangla for the decision.
Receiving the proposals, the Petrobangla formed a 4-member technical committee, headed by director (planning) to examine the proposal and recommend follow-up actions.
Read: Low pressure problem in gas supply to industries to be resolved: Nasrul
A senior official from Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) was also kept in the committee as currently this company is responsible for import of gas through liquefied natural gas (LNG) and also for issuing permission for setting up CNG stations.
Another member of the committee said that ensuring safety is a must. Otherwise, it will be impossible to check anarchy and risk in this business as the gas will be carried through highways.
The issue of the supply of gas from Bhola came to the focus following the Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury’s recent assurance to a gathering of top business leaders to supply such gas within 2-3 months.
Petrobangla officials said that when the country has been experiencing a nagging gas crisis, the Bhola gas field has surplus production capacity which remains unutilised due to supply mechanisms.
Read: Can’t import 400 MMCFD gas as per businessmen’s demand: Energy Advisor
The gas field’s production capacity is 170 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) while it produces 90 MMCFD. So easily, 80 MMCFD gas could be supplied to the national network if safe transportation is ensured, Petrobangla chairman Nazmul Ahsan recently told reporters.
At present, the country produces 2,700 MMCFD gas against a demand of 3,500 MMCFD and the deficit is about 800 MMCFD.
Currently, transportation of natural gas in CNG form by-road is prohibited considering its risk for major explosion as CNG is a form of gas processed by compressing the natural gas at 3000 PSI (pounds per square inch).
Energy experts said transportation of natural gas in CNG cylinders is not allowed in normal trucks because of its high-pressure characteristics.
Read More: Petrobangla to get Tk 2000 crore from GDF to import LNG
About the option of bringing gas from Bhola through CNG form, eminent energy expert Dr M Tamim said it will be too dangerous to carry CNG through normal trucks having cylinders, which is currently being practised by different garment and textile factories.
There are some specialised barge-mounted CNG carriers which could be allowed under certain rules and regulations.
“This kind of business needs some specific technical and technological process to be set up to ensure its safety as the CNG is of highly compressed gas of 3000 psi”, he told UNB.
Installation of such a process might not be possible within a short period of 3 or 4 months, he added.
Read More: Petrobangla starts drilling in Shahbazpur Gas Field
Despite prohibition, some textile and garment factories collect natural gas from refuelling stations through small containers, mounted on trucks, to meet their industrial needs against the backdrop of the gas crisis.
In this case, a truck carries 30-50 CNG cylinders and each cylinder has 90 kg of compressed gas bottling capacity.
This kind of CNG transportation is highly risky. An incident of explosion happened at a CNG re-fuelling stations in Gazipur in which for people were killed on October 13. Explosion occurred when a garment factory was injecting gas into cylinders in illegal from the gas station.
Despite this incident, recently, three export-oriented business bodies—Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Ceramic Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BCMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) — requested the Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owners Association to supply natural gas to their member industries through cylinders.
Read More: No additional LNG supply from Qatar before 2025: Petrobangla
But CNG filling station owners rejected the request, saying that entertaining such requests is not possible as the existing law in Bangladesh does not permit them to supply CNG through cylinders.
No additional LNG supply from Qatar before 2025: Petrobangla
Bangladesh is unlikely to get any additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar before 2025 as the gulf country has recently turned down a request in this regard.
According to official sources in Dhaka, Qatar straight away rejected a plea to increase its supply of LNG right at this moment when Bangladesh has desperately been looking for primary fuel at a cheaper rate.
Read: Dependence on LNG import to continue, more terminals to be set up: Energy Advisor
Petrobangla chairman Nazmul Ahsan, who recently led a delegation to Qatar, said the energy-rich gulf nation did not agree to Bangladesh’s request to immediately increase the supply.
“They only agreed to increase LNG supply from 2025” he told UNB adding, “We can get additional 2 million ton per annum (MTPA) of LNG from that time”
“But the rate and other terms and conditions have not been settled yet”, he noted.
Bangladesh has been importing LNG from Qatar and Oman since 2018 under two separate long-term contracts.
As per a 15-year contract with Qatar, it can supply the highest 2.5 MTPA of LNG and the supply will not come below 1.8 MTPA.
Since the contract is a long-term one, the rate of the LNG was relatively lower - between $11-$17 per MMBtu (million British Thermal Unit) - compared with its higher rate in the international spot market , said a Petrobangla official.
After improvement in the Covid-19 situation, demands grew for primary fuel pushing up the LNG price in the spot market.
The Russian-Ukraine war that began in February deteriorated the situation with the LNG price skyrocketing to $70 per MMBtu before coming down to current price of around $37 per MMBtu.
Against this backdrop, Bangladesh moved to raise import of LNG under long-term contracts.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid visited Qatar in March this year and met with Qatar’s State Minister for Energy Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, in Doha to place a request to increase the supply.
As follow-up of the state-minister’s meeting, the Petrobangla team, led by its chairman, visited Qatar recently and held a meeting with the LNG supply company to increase the supply.
Petrobangla statistics show that the country currently produces about 2,773 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) where the share of imported LNG is about 470 mmcfd against last year’s 750 mmcfd.
Read: Bangladesh seeks additional supply of LNG to meet growing demand
Bangladesh suspended import of LNG from international sport market in July this year due to the price escalation. It also announced staggered holidays for area-based industries from August to minimise consumption of both natural gas and electricity.
Under a staggering programme an area-based factory holidays will be maintained to limit consumption of both natural gas and electricity.
Officials of the Power Division said that the new rationing system will help save around 500-550 MW of electricity.
Under an ongoing austerity measure all the diesel-fired power plants are now shut and load-shedding is being implemented officially from July 19 to reduce diesel imports and save foreign currency.
Although area-based load-shedding was scheduled for one hour, it allegedly continued for three hours at a time in some city areas across the country.
Load shedding in rural and remote areas, however, stretched for more hours, consumers claim.
Markets and shopping malls can now stay open until 8:00 pm.
The government also prohibited illumination in different social gatherings in community centers, shopping malls, shops, offices and houses since July 7.
Petrobangla starts drilling in Shahbazpur Gas Field
Petrobangla has begun drilling a development well of Shahbazpur Gas Field in the southern district of Bhola.
Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom was appointed as the contractor for drilling the Tagbi-1 well.
The Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex), a subsidiary of Petrobangla, appointed Gazprom as a part of the government's initiative to increase domestic production amid a volatile global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.
Also read: US companies encouraged for oil, gas exploration in Bangladesh's offshore
Mahbub Hossain, senior secretary at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, inaugurated the drilling activity Friday. Petrobangla Chair Nazmul Ahsan was present.
"The Tagbi-1 drilling initiative is part of Petrobangla's plan to dig 46 wells across the country by 2025," Nazmul told UNB.
Gazprom will drill the development well up to a 3,500-metre depth. After the completion of drilling, the well is expected to produce 20-25 million cubic feet (mmcft) of gas daily.
Also read: Fuel, natural gas price hikes to have domino effect on economy: DCCI
Under the project, two more exploratory wells will be drilled in Ilisha-1 and Bhola North-2, Nazmul said.
Shahbazpur Gas Field was discovered by Bapex in 1995. Gas production from the field started in May 2009.
Petrobangla to get Tk 2000 crore from GDF to import LNG
The Finance Ministry has given its consent to provide Tk 2000 crore to the Petrobangla from Gas Development Fund (GDF) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG).
An official order, a copy of it obtained by UNB, reveals that as per proposal of the Energy Division, the Finance Ministry agreed to provide the fund as loan to the state-owned Petrobangla.
The approval from the Finance Ministry came against the backdrop of the severe fund crisis the Petrobangla has been facing following the excessive price hike of gas in the international market as a fall out of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The price of LNG has crossed US$39 per MMBtu from below US$10 after the Russia-Ukraine war began on 24 February 2022.
About the Finance Ministry’s approval, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) CAB Vice President M Shamsul Alam said this is an indication that the government is in a serious crisis in dealing with the energy sector.
Recently the Energy Division announced its decision not to import any LNG from the international spot market because of the price hike.
As a result, it has to go for reducing power generation from gas-fired plants that forced the power entities to resort to planned load shedding.
Read: Petrobangla building fire extinguished
However, it continued importing LNG from Oman and Qatar under long term contracts where price is fixed, but varies to some extent on different conditions.
Now, it’s not clear whether Petrobangla will use the new fund to resume import of LNG from the spot market or utilise it to import gas from long-term suppliers.
The Gas Development Fund (GDF) was created by the order of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) a few years back to allow the Pertrobangla to receive additional money with gas bills from the consumers to use the fund for gas exploration in the country.
The BERC also created some other funds by the consumers’ additional money and the regulator is highly against the use of such funds for any other purpose than gas sector development.
But all operation of such funds was taken up by the Energy Division. But the Petrobangla used some of the funds for different other purposes while deposited to the government exchequer as per a Finance Ministry order.
As per the current arrangement, if the Energy Division or Petrobangla wants to use the fund for any purpose, it has to take permission from the Finance Division.
The BERC is against the operation and control of the Energy Division on such funds.
The BERC in June directed state-owned Petrobangla to return a total of Tk 12,227.44 crore to its two original funds—the energy security fund (ESF) and the Gas Development Fund (GDF).
The energy regulator’s latest directive which came as the BERC Order No-2022/7, in detail, was released on June 27 and uploaded on its website on the same day.
As per the BERC Verdict, the Petrobangla has to return Tk 9227.44 crore to ESF Fund and Tk 3000 crore with interest to the GDF fund which the organization had taken away and used for different purposes.
The verdict did not dictate a specific date for the Petrobangla as to when it has to return the funds.
The order came as a follow-up of the public hearing on gas prices held on March 21 in the city’s BIAM Auditorium where different consumer right groups, including Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) termed the ESF and GDF fund as consumers’ money which they paid in addition to their bills for gas field development and security purposes.
The CAB and other right groups pleaded with the BERC to return the amount to the original funds and ensure its use only for gas field development and the gas sector’s security purpose through a transparent way which will be monitored by consumers’ representatives.
BERC orders Petrobangla to return Tk 12,227 cr to ESF and GDF funds
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission has directed state-owned Petrobangla to return Tk 12,227.44 crore to its two original funds—the energy security fund (ESF) and the Gas Development Fund (GDF).
The energy regulator’s latest directive which came as the BERC Order No-2022/7, in detail, was released on June 27 and uploaded on its website on the same day.
However, BERC gave its brief order on June 4 raising gas prices by average 23 percent at retail consumer level.
Also read: Petrobangla to scrap compensation clause in future gas pacts?
As per the BERC Verdict, the Petrobangla has to now return Tk 9227.44 crore to ESF Fund and Tk 3000 crore with interest to the GDF fund which the organization had taken away and used for different purposes.
The verdict did not dictate a specific date for the Petrobangla as to when it has to return the funds.
The order came as a follow-up of the public hearing on gas prices held on March 21 in the city’s BIAM Auditorium where different consumer right groups, including Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) termed the ESF and GDF fund as consumers’ money which they paid in addition to their bills for gas field development and security purposes.
But the Petrobangla used some of the funds for different other purposes while deposited to the government exchequer as per a Finance Ministry order.
The CAB and other right groups pleaded with the BERC to return the amount to the original funds and ensure its use only for gas field development and the gas sector’s security purpose through a transparent way which will be monitored by consumers representatives.
CAB Vice President M Shamsul Alam welcomed the verdict and said that now an obligation has been created on the part of the Petrobangla to return the fund.
Also read: Proposed gas price hike: Petrobangla under fire at public hearing
He said if Petrobangla does not abide by the BERC order, the regulator can punish or fine the responsible officials of Petrobangla for violating the verdict
He said if the Petrobangla fails to fulfill its legal obligation, the CAB will move the court to force the organization to implement the order.
Petrobangla to scrap compensation clause in future gas pacts?
After failing to enhance local gas production, state-owned Petrobangla has now initiated a move to modify the current structure of the gas supply agreement (GSA) with future power plants in Bangladesh.
UNB has learnt that a draft of the revised GSA was recently sent to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) seeking its opinion on the proposed move. And on their part, a top BPDB official said, the file has been forwarded to the Power Division with notings.
“We'll soon hold a meeting with all power companies -- public and private -- to discuss in detail the merits and demerits of the revised GSA, before taking a final call on the proposal," said a senior official of the Power Division, who didn’t wish to be named.
He, however, said that the Power Cell, a technical wing of the Power Division, had been asked to analyse the proposal and prepare a detailed report, which would help the Power Division to take a "right decision" on the file.
Sources said that the recent excessive hike in gas prices in the global market due to the Russia-Ukraine war forced Petrobangla to initiate such a move to revise the GSA.
Also read: Beacon of hope: Zakiganj announced Bangladesh’s 28th gas field
Petrobangla is the sole authority of gas supply to any power plant in the country. As a result, the BPDB and a private company have to sign a GSA with Petrobangla before moving for setting up a gas-fired power plant in the country.
“After a series of discussions and negotiations, Petrobangla sign a GSA with a power plant ensuring a timely supply of gas," said an official. "The recent volatility in gas and crude prices in the global market has put the organisation in a dilemma."
Decision on 4-hour gas rationing in industries withdrawn
The government has withdrawn its decision to suspend gas supply to industries for four hours every day.
State-owned Petrobangla in a press release on Thursday announced the new decision saying that it will come into effect from April 22 (Friday).
Also read: Gas supply to industries to remain off for 4 hrs daily from Tuesday
Earlier on April 11 the Petrobangla said that the gas supply will remain suspended for four hours from 5 to 9 pm every day for 15 days from April 12.
Sources said the new decision came at the request of the industry owners.
Earlier, the Petrobangla had instructed all the CNG refueling stations to keep those closed for six hours from 5 to 11 pm every day during the Holy Ramadan to facilitate gas supply to household consumers and power plants.
Also read: Titas asked to conduct study on gas bill discrepancies
Proposed gas price hike: Petrobangla under fire at public hearing
State-run Petrobangla’s proposal to hike retail gas price faced stiff opposition from groups representing consumers, citizens, businesses and professionals at a public hearing that began at the city’s BIAM auditorium on Monday.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is holding the hearing responding to the proposals of eight gas sector entities including Petrobangla to raise gas price by 117 per cent. The hearing will continue till Wednesday.
The consumer rights groups said that any rise in gas price will be totally illogical and unfair at this moment when the people are struggling price hike of essentials resulting from Covid-19 pandemic shock.
BERC chairman Abdul Jalil, who presided over the sessions, expressed his resentment on the proposals of different gas companies saying that their data on financial and technical issues are mismatching with each other’s.
He said there should be a central data system from which accurate information could be found before taking decision on any issue in the gas sector.
He also said the data presented by the Petrobangla could not satisfy the people.
On the first day of the hearing, officials of Petrobangla and Gas Transmission Company Limited separately placed their proposals in two separate sessions in the morning and after lunch.
Also read: Gas price hike proposal: 3-day public hearing begins Monday
The Petrobangla officials claimed that the annual expenditure of the organization will increase to Tk 65,225.75 crore due to import of LNG (liquefied natural gas) and other cost escalations.
As a result, on an average gas price needs to be increased to Tk 20 from the existing Tk 12.60 per cubic meter.
A technical team of the BERC disagreed with the claim of Petrobangla and placed its report saying that state-run agency still has a unutilized fund of about Tk 2500 crore as surplus after meeting its expenses.
Opposing the claim of the Petrobangla, Prof Shumsul Alam, advisor of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) challenged the authenticity of the data and statistics provided by its officials.
He said he had sought different data from Petrobangla and other seven companies, but they did not provide it, which is a violation of the BERC Act.
Also read: Further hike in gas price will come as a big blow to masses: speakers
He raised a number of questions on the merit of Petrobangla's proposal and demanded for a cut in its unfair expenses and reducing the system loss instead of increasing the price of gas to adjust its cost.
He also urged the BERC to form a high level commission composed from representatives of the consumer groups to ensure good governance in the gas sector.
President of Bangladesh Sadharan Nagorik Samaj Mohiuddin termed the proposal of the Petrobangla and GTCL baseless and unfair and misleading.
“If any rise in gas price comes on the basis of the Petrobangla proposal, it will be disastrous”, he said.
Eminent energy expert Dr Badrul Imam said the current crisis in the gas sector is deeply rooted in the government’s failure to conduct exploration.
“In last 20 years, there has been no major exploration works conducted in the gas sector”, he observed.
He said it will be totally illogical to raise gas prices for import of only 3 per cent gas from the international spot market.
Petrobangla close to appointing a foreign firm to revamp Model PSC for off-shore gas exploration
State-owned Petrobangla shortlisted four foreign firms in the process of hiring a consultant for making its Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) more attractive to foreign investors interested in off-shore gas exploration.
According to official sources, the companies are IHS Global, Gaffney Cline Associates, WoodMackenzie, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd.
The four companies, out of eight, were technically qualified in a bidding process followed by Petrobangla.
“Now, we will place the names with their respective proposals to the Petrobangla Board. If it approves, then their respective financial offers will be opened for selecting one of them”, said a top official of the state hydrocarbon corporation.
Officials said that earlier a total of eight firms had submitted their respective Expressions of Interest (EOI) to Petrobangla of which five were from the United Kingdom and one each from India, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through a scrutiny process, four were shortlisted.
The Petrobangla received their proposals on November 21, the deadline for submission of the EOI.
Confirming the latest development Shahnewaz Parvez, General Manager (Contract) of Petrobangla, said that it is not possible to say which one will finally be selected for the job until their financial offers are opened and evaluated.
He said once the consultant is appointed, it will mainly help Petrobangla to further amend the Model PSC 2019, to attract international oil companies (IOCs) amid the volatile international fuel market.
Read: India looking for more foreign investments in Oil sector: minister
He noted that the principal upstream energy body will appoint an experienced foreign consultant to draw up the amendments that would convince the IOCs to invest in Bangladesh's offshore gas exploration.
Official sources said the recent excessive hike in petroleum fuel price, especially that of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so IOCs get interested to bring their money here.
The country has a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located offshore and 22 onshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas.
Read: The 'Future' of Reliance: A mega deal destined to shape future of India;s retain space post covid
Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks -SS-04 and SS-09-are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started.
The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was raised to $5.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from its deep sea blocks.
There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, but that got postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time.
"The recent upward trend in oil and gas price has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC," said another Petrobangla official.
He dropped an indication that gas price might be increased up to $7.25 per MCF for shallow sea blocks while $8.5 per MCF for deep sea blocks considering the upward global trend in petroleum price.
He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early this year.
Recently, the World Bank in its outlook for the year ahead predicted that the petroleum price may not fall until the end of 2022 although recently the price declined by $10.
The latest Russian invasion of Ukraine has further deepened the global market volatility pushing up the petroleum fuel price over $100 per barrel, the highest in the last 7 years.
Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets 40 per cent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 per cent.
The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So, if gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works, said the Petrobangla officials.
They said this is the first time, at least a 15-year experienced foreign firm will be hired to help the government to prepare the amendments in the PSC as foreign companies can give best suggestions as to what kind of incentives be offered to attract IOCs.
Officials said the Energy Division had instructed Petrobangla to hire such a consultant in February this year. But negligence of some top officials delayed the work.
They said Petrobangla now plans to complete the appointment of consultants within the next two months and receive their report by April next. It hopes to complete the amendments by May and invite international bidding for IOCs in June this year to start exploration works before the end of 2022.
Officials said that the foreign contractor, which was awarded a contract to conduct multi-client seismic survey in the offshore sea blocks, also suggested updating the Model PSC to attract IOCs in the changed scenario in the global petroleum market.
Bangladesh's offshore area remained unexplored despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost eight years ago.
It has had no success in the exploration of oil and gas in its offshore areas located within its maritime boundary, said an energy expert wishing not to be named.
Petrobangla to import 3.360 MMBTU of LNG from Vitol Asia
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesaday approved four proposals, including import of LNG by Petrobangla..
The approval came at an on-line meeting chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
As per the proposals, the state-owned Petrobangla will import 3.360 million MMBTU (million British thermal unit) of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore, at a total cost of Tk 1004.69 crore.
The bulk LNG will be imported from the international spot market of which each MMBTU will cost $29.70.
The Directorate of Food will import 50,000 metric tons of wheat from Agrocorp International Pte Ltd at a cost of Tk 168.09 crore. Each metric ton of wheat will cost $390.92.
The supplier was selected through international quotation.
The Mongla Port Authority will procure a buoy laying vessel and required equipment along with expert services from Karnafuly Ship Builders Ltd at a cost of Tk 119.68 crore.
The Karnafuly will supply the vessel, equipment and services as a lone bidder.
The Roads and Highway Department will award a contract to National Development Engineers Ltd for upgrading a part of the Elenga Hatikamrul -Rongpur Highway into four lane under the package No-WP-15 at a cost of Tk 151.96 crore.
READ: Defying rejection, Petrobangla, 7 other distributors again push for gas price hike
Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved three proposals.
Under the proposals a contract will be signed with Bangladesh SEZ Ltd for development of 1000 acres of land at Araihazar upazila of the Narayanganj district for Japanese investors and also operation of the economic zone.
The Bangladesh SEZ Ltd is a joint venture company of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) and the Japanese firm Sumitomo Corporation.
The new company was formed as part of the contract signed between the Bangladesh Government and the Government of Japan to set up an economic zon for Japanese investors.
READ: Petrobangla to appoint foreign consultants towards amending Model PSC
The CCEA approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to procure spare and consumable parts and schedule maintainable works for Ghorasal 365 MW combined cycle through direct procurement method (DPM).
A proposal of the agriculture ministry received the nod of the committee to appoint a event management company through direct procurement method for arranging the 36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC).