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Bangladesh Worries Burma, India with New Will to Drill for Gas
October 10, 2009: Competition for gas beneath the waves in the Bay of Bengal is likely to follow the award of licenses this month by Bangladesh to two international exploration firms, say industry analysts.
Sources: Irrawaddy News
Weekly Business Roundup (October 10, 2009)
The Dhaka government, eager to fulfill an election promise to remedy Bangladesh’s desperate shortage of electricity, is expected to complete the signing of deals with Tullow Oil of Ireland and US-based ConocoPhillips.
The contracts will be for three exploration sites in waters which are contested by Burma and India as part of their own economic zones under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“All
three countries have ratified the convention in principle, but sea boundaries
remain unresolved, especially in the case of Bangladesh,” Bangkok-based energy
industry consultant-analyst Sar Watana told The
Irrawaddy.
“It could well lead to trouble as we have already seen a naval confrontation
between Burma and Bangladesh last year over Burma’s own
drilling in the bay.”
Bangladesh
needs more gas to fuel a planned expansion in power plants to generate
much-needed electricity.
Land border tensions between Bangladesh and Burma have also grown in recent weeks.