Petrobangla wants to know capability of Chinese firm

Transfer of Chevron's Shares To Himalaya Energy
Petrobangla expressed grave concern over the US oil giant Chevron's shares transferring issue to Himalaya Energy Co Ltd, a Chinese consortium.
"Petrobangla wants to see professional documents of the company as it (petrobangla) is the lion share holder of Jalalabad, Moulvibazar and Bibiyana gas fields," a senior official of the energy Division told the Daily Observer.
He said Petrobangla wants to know the capability of Himalaya Energy Company without any elaboration.
The Chinese management has already taken over the charge of Chevron's stakes in Bangladesh (without the government's permission) and Chevron has transferred all its shares to the Chinese consortium.
According to sources in the Energy Division, a Chevron team met Petrobangla officials on Wednesday to discuss share transfer issue to the Chinese consortium. Petrobangla invited Chevron for the meeting.
"This was the first meeting with Chevron after the dispute erupted at the end of 2016 when the international media reported that Chevron would sell its Bangladesh assets," said a Petrobangla official.
Meanwhile, Petrobangla has requested the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and the Joint Stock Companies and Firms (JSCF) to block all of Chevron's activities for transferring its shares to the Chinese consortium.
 Over the last seven months, Petrobangla and Chevron have exchanged some letters over the issue of whether Chevron can sell their assets to a third party without the government's consent.
"Petrobangla's officials mentioned the clause of Article 31.1 (p. 77) of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to Chevron's officials," official said.
However, Article 31.2 says: "The contractor shall have the right to assign any or all of its rights, interests and obligations under this contract to any of its affiliates, or to any other entity comprising the contractor or affiliates, with prior written approval of Petrobangla which shall not be unreasonably withheld."
"Both the party will sit further to examine all issues," official comments.
Chevron operates three gas fields-- Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar--from which it sells all produced gas to state oil company Petrobangla.