Oil drill deal with GazProm soon 

The Energy Division is set to sign an unsolicited deal with Russian oil giant GazProm to drill two exploratory and a development well at Shahbazpur gas field and in Bhola North.
The Energy Division has already signed an initial with the Russian company for these drilling jobs, however, this time Gazprom sought US$ 21.19 million for each well, which means the country will be paying two million more for each, a senior official of the Energy Division told the Daily Observer on Tuesday.
"Yes, we are set to sign the deal soon, as we need gas to run our economy, the price is high compared with the previous price quoted by the GazProm. They had signed the first deal in 2016-2017," Md Anisur Rahman, Senior Secretary of the Energy Division said.
According to him the issue    would be forwarded to the government purchase committee very soon.
"This time Gazprom will start the second phase of the job. To get the job they negotiated the price once again with the Energy Division. The Energy Division has send a proposal to the Prime Minister (the line Minister of the Energy Division) asking for her approval for this drilling project where it is mentioned that 'GazProm will do the job at a competitive price' but now we can see the reality," according to the Energy Division.
Energy expert Prof Dr M Tamim said, "It is really sad to know that BAPEX's detection of gas structures was given to Gazprom which was a total blunder. This time they submitted a mega financial proposal and accordingly the government is eager to sign it�. ridicules."
"By giving the assignment to Gazprom, it is clear that the state-owned exploration company (BAPEX) is neglected by the government, not being treated in a proper way, as it should be," he added.
Taking advantage of the government's favour, the Russian company Gazprom bagged the drilling job both the exploratory and appraisal in country's known fields discovered by BAPEX and other international oil companies to drill 17 wells on August 30 in 2017. Of those, they drilled 10 wells at $19.35 million each, and the rest at $16.48 million per well for the other 7 wells. All this happened by taking advantage of the "Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010."
In 2016, BAPEX submitted a proposal for the job, but suddenly, Gazprom on September 5 in 2016 showed interest and submitted a proposal before the Energy Division proposal process committee.
The committee was informed that Gazprom was not interested in participating in an open bidding process but had showed interest to get the unsolicited contract of the drilling of the Shahbazpur East-1 and Bhola (North) wells.
In 2017, the Gazprom drilled two wells in Bhola with discovery of a major reservoir using the BAPEX data.
"I think the state-owned BAPEX can explore gas in development wells after discovery of gas field in Bhola," Prof Imam, a geologist and teacher of Dhaka University, said.