Westerners have put us into the danger: PM’s energy advisor

[Black_cats]

Westerners have put us into the danger: PM’s energy advisor

ENERGY​

UNB
07 August, 2022, 10:40 pm
Last modified: 07 August, 2022, 10:45 pm

Westerners have put us into the danger: PM’s energy advisor

Prime Minister's Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has blamed the current energy crisis in the country on the "Westerners." "This not our self creation. The Westerners have put us into danger," he told a virtual seminar titled "Sustainable Energy Security in Bangladesh: Vision of...

www.tbsnews.net

Prime Minister's Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has blamed the current energy crisis in the country on the "Westerners."

"This not our self creation. The Westerners have put us into danger," he told a virtual seminar titled "Sustainable Energy Security in Bangladesh: Vision of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman", organised by Bangladesh Energy Society (BES) on Sunday.

Defending the current petroleum fuel price hike by more than 50%, he said Bangladesh is not only country to have raised the price. Even the countries like the USA have increased the price.

"Per gallon of petrol is being sold at $5 in the USA which is equivalent to Tk120-130 per litre," he told the seminar.

He said new innovative solutions like solar-run fast charging station for three wheelers, cooking through electric oven should be introduced to shift the load of electricity to bring a rationality in the system.

Eminent energy expert Dr Tamim said the price of petroleum has already come down in the US to $3 from $5 per gallon.

One US gallon is equivalent to about four litres.

He said the government should have decreased the fuel price much earlier when price had decreased in the global market. But that was not done. Now again the energy price was raised by about 50% in one go.

"There should be a specific policy that if the price decreases, the profit should be preserved as a special fund and that should be utilised for petroleum import when price goes up," he said.

He said the oil price may witness a decline soon as it always happens in cyclic order that after a rise, when supply increases in the market, price automatically falls.

About the gas exploration, he said there should not be much more dependency on the state-owned Bapex for hydrocarbon exploration as it failed to make remarkable breakthroughs in the last 50 years.

"Now foreign companies should be awarded contracts for both onshore and offshore explorations," he added.

The seminar was also addressed by Summit Group's chairman Mohammed Aziz Khan, chief of 71 TV Mozammel Babu, energy expert Firoze Alam, business executive Zakaria Jalal and official Mizanur Rahman.

Former principal secretary to PM and president of BES Abul Kalam Azad presided over the event while Energy and Power magazine editor Mollah Amzad Hossain conducted it.

Mozammel Babu saisd that use of induction oven for cooking should be encouraged through mandatory provision as it is more competitive compared with use of gas-oven.

He said the government should move for massive solar power project implementation like Vietnam which already set up 20,000 MW solar power projects.

Aziz Khan said foreign oil companies will not be interested to invest in gas exploration until they have been given the option for gas export.

He said many local companies could be interested to invest in exploration if there is change in the policy.

 

[Bilal9]

Tawfiq Chacha tasbih gonen, boyosh hoisey.

Don't put your mouth where it don't belong.

Way above your grade or even your boss's grade.

 

[mb444]

Westerners have put us into the danger: PM’s energy advisor

ENERGY​

UNB
07 August, 2022, 10:40 pm
Last modified: 07 August, 2022, 10:45 pm

Westerners have put us into the danger: PM’s energy advisor

Prime Minister's Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has blamed the current energy crisis in the country on the "Westerners." "This not our self creation. The Westerners have put us into danger," he told a virtual seminar titled "Sustainable Energy Security in Bangladesh: Vision of...

www.tbsnews.net

Prime Minister's Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has blamed the current energy crisis in the country on the "Westerners."

"This not our self creation. The Westerners have put us into danger," he told a virtual seminar titled "Sustainable Energy Security in Bangladesh: Vision of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman", organised by Bangladesh Energy Society (BES) on Sunday.

Defending the current petroleum fuel price hike by more than 50%, he said Bangladesh is not only country to have raised the price. Even the countries like the USA have increased the price.

"Per gallon of petrol is being sold at $5 in the USA which is equivalent to Tk120-130 per litre," he told the seminar.

He said new innovative solutions like solar-run fast charging station for three wheelers, cooking through electric oven should be introduced to shift the load of electricity to bring a rationality in the system.

Eminent energy expert Dr Tamim said the price of petroleum has already come down in the US to $3 from $5 per gallon.

One US gallon is equivalent to about four litres.

He said the government should have decreased the fuel price much earlier when price had decreased in the global market. But that was not done. Now again the energy price was raised by about 50% in one go.

"There should be a specific policy that if the price decreases, the profit should be preserved as a special fund and that should be utilised for petroleum import when price goes up," he said.

He said the oil price may witness a decline soon as it always happens in cyclic order that after a rise, when supply increases in the market, price automatically falls.

About the gas exploration, he said there should not be much more dependency on the state-owned Bapex for hydrocarbon exploration as it failed to make remarkable breakthroughs in the last 50 years.

"Now foreign companies should be awarded contracts for both onshore and offshore explorations," he added.

The seminar was also addressed by Summit Group's chairman Mohammed Aziz Khan, chief of 71 TV Mozammel Babu, energy expert Firoze Alam, business executive Zakaria Jalal and official Mizanur Rahman.

Former principal secretary to PM and president of BES Abul Kalam Azad presided over the event while Energy and Power magazine editor Mollah Amzad Hossain conducted it.

Mozammel Babu saisd that use of induction oven for cooking should be encouraged through mandatory provision as it is more competitive compared with use of gas-oven.

He said the government should move for massive solar power project implementation like Vietnam which already set up 20,000 MW solar power projects.

Aziz Khan said foreign oil companies will not be interested to invest in gas exploration until they have been given the option for gas export.

He said many local companies could be interested to invest in exploration if there is change in the policy.

Gibberish....

BD needs to skill up BAPEX and partner with a foreign company. BD should not give out exploration right to any foreign company nor allow them to export anything. BD should use these resources for own requirement. Release bonds to fund this, they are expensive but give it to a foreign company and BD will loose atleast 70% of the revenue.... just ask the likes of nigeria.

BD goal should be JV in exploration and self funding in extraction. Pay foreign company to extract but never give them the right to export or sell the gas/oil.

 

[Ahmadbhutta01]

Why don't they buy oil for cheap from Russia like India

 

[mmr]

lol sure...its white ppl fault you guys cant use brain beyond underwear and send low skill ppl to middle east.



now enjoy 115 taka per dollar soon it will be 200. BD is no different then sri lanka or pak. at least sri lanka and pak has many highways and nicer airports etc.

 

[Rushd Alam]

Gibberish....

BD needs to skill up BAPEX and partner with a foreign company. BD should not give out exploration right to any foreign company nor allow them to export anything. BD should use these resources for own requirement. Release bonds to fund this, they are expensive but give it to a foreign company and BD will loose atleast 70% of the revenue.... just ask the likes of nigeria.

BD goal should be JV in exploration and self funding in extraction. Pay foreign company to extract but never give them the right to export or sell the gas/oil.

Agreed but Bapex has capacity issues. We need very aggrassive exploration. I support competitive foreign explorer working side by side with Bapex onshore.

Offahore is also not possible for Bapex with their current capacity. We need to build up private companies from Bangladesh, evwn join venture with governement will help our local companies to be able to go big soon.

 

[mb444]

Agreed but Bapex has capacity issues. We need very aggrassive exploration. I support competitive foreign explorer working side by side with Bapex onshore.

Offahore is also not possible for Bapex with their current capacity. We need to build up private companies from Bangladesh, evwn join venture with governement will help our local companies to be able to go big soon.

Exploration i dont have issue with going to overseas firm its extraction that is the issue.

Hydrocarbon exploration is very expensive, you get a return only about 20% of the time. This is why likes of shell will demand extraction rights upfront.

BD should not allow that. JV with a firm where BD pays the cost for the service provided. No follow on rights.

If something is found again pay or go for JV on extraction, no selling rights.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

I didn't get this reference to Westerners? What is this about? Some local code word?

Regards

 

[leonblack08]

BD operates on a Production Sharing Contract model, not a typical JV. Historically, the clauses in the PSC was such that during exploration phase, the contractor (foreign energy company) bears all the cost of the exploration.

During production phase, the contractor extracts and sells the gas back to Petrobangla at a fixed prescribed rate, which may or may not be same as international market rate. Petrobangla in addition also reimburse 50% of the costs of extraction to the contractor. No sell outside BD allowed.

Many foreign contractors have problem with the exploration phase as it is not profitable for them. In the past many have backed out because of this reason. BAPEX on its own doesn't have the technology to accurately explore. So unless the PSC is changed to be more attractive to foreign operators, it will be hard for Bangladesh to extract the resources. I don't see BAPEX increasing it's tech capabilities in short run. It hasn't happened in decades. The problem is all the incompetent bureaucrats in positions where they shouldn't be.

At the same time, we cannot go without PSC because then we will be at the mercy of foreign operators. PSC model protects us, so it needs to be updated enough to reflect the modern day reality.

 

[leonblack08]

BD goal should be JV in exploration and self funding in extraction. Pay foreign company to extract but never give them the right to export or sell the gas/oil.

Even during extraction phase, we need foreign operators for optimal production. The efficiency of gas production from wells operated by foreign operators is better than those operated by BAPEX. There is a technological gap here too.

The long term solution is obviously to skill up BAPEX but again, if we don't solve the mismanagement and bureaucracy we are going nowhere. The BAPEX and Petrobangla folks have enough exposure to how the foreign energy giants operate and regularly have foreign training trips for continuous education. But somehow we never see the end result, which leads us back to mismanagement.

 

[mb444]

BD operates on a Production Sharing Contract model, not a typical JV. Historically, the clauses in the PSC was such that during exploration phase, the contractor (foreign energy company) bears all the cost of the exploration.

During production phase, the contractor extracts and sells the gas back to Petrobangla at a fixed prescribed rate, which may or may not be same as international market rate. Petrobangla in addition also reimburse 50% of the costs of extraction to the contractor. No sell outside BD allowed.

Many foreign contractors have problem with the exploration phase as it is not profitable for them. In the past many have backed out because of this reason. BAPEX on its own doesn't have the technology to accurately explore. So unless the PSC is changed to be more attractive to foreign operators, it will be hard for Bangladesh to extract the resources. I don't see BAPEX increasing it's tech capabilities in short run. It hasn't happened in decades. The problem is all the incompetent bureaucrats in positions where they shouldn't be.

At the same time, we cannot go without PSC because then we will be at the mercy of foreign operators. PSC model protects us, so it needs to be updated enough to reflect the modern day reality.

I understand. What we need to do is to pay a foreign company to undertake exploration. That is all payment for service rendered. They will line up to do it as it is zero risk for them. BD needs to take the risk of failure.

For extraction again the same. The likes of BP, shell etc does exactly the same the subcontract out.

It will be initially expensive for BD but ultimately is the best model if there are indeed gas and oil in the bay.

 

[mb444]

Even during extraction phase, we need foreign operators for optimal production. The efficiency of gas production from wells operated by foreign operators is better than those operated by BAPEX. There is a technological gap here too.

The long term solution is obviously to skill up BAPEX but again, if we don't solve the mismanagement and bureaucracy we are going nowhere. The BAPEX and Petrobangla folks have enough exposure to how the foreign energy giants operate and regularly have foreign training trips for continuous education. But somehow we never see the end result, which leads us back to mismanagement.

BD lacks policy and execution and coupled with corruption is our curse.

BD needs to allow BAPEX to make descisions without political interference similar to BoB and other key institutions.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

I understand. What we need to do is to pay a foreign company to undertake exploration. That is all payment for service rendered. They will line up to do it as it is zero risk for them. BD needs to take the risk of failure.

For extraction again the same. The likes of BP, shell etc does exactly the same the subcontract out.

It will be initially expensive for BD but ultimately is the best model if there are indeed gas and oil in the bay.

We don’t have enough fossil fuel to justify the investment.

We need to focus on mass job creation industries.

Let’s not get involved in things just for ego’s sake.

Let’s not spread our skilled people too thinly.

 

[mb444]

We don’t have enough fossil fuel to justify the investment.

We need to focus on mass job creation industries.

Let’s not get involved in things just for ego’s sake.

Let’s not spread our skilled people too thinly.

But without exploration we dont know if the investment is justified or not. This is the issue foreign company will come in take the risk and get the benefit.

Now what price do you put on energy independence? You might see the risk of failure is too great, you may be right in your assessment.

I see that there is great chance we do have a lot of gas and potentially oil and the risk is worth it.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

But without exploration we dont know if the investment is justified or not. This is the issue foreign company will come in take the risk and get the benefit.

Now what price do you put on energy independence? You might see the risk of failure is too great, you may be right in your assessment.

I see that there is great chance we do have a lot of gas and potentially oil and the risk is worth it.

Energy independence is a Trumpian slogan!

It’s nonsense!

The world is interdependent.

We should focus on things we do best and import things we cannot.

Aim is to make more money than we spend.

Let nonsensical terms like “energy independence” to trumpian idiots.