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Published : 24 May 2026, 08:00 PM
The government has revised production sharing contracts (PSCs) and launched a fresh offshore bidding round to bring back foreign oil and gas companies for exploration in Bangladesh’s maritime areas.
Under the “Offshore Bidding Round 2026”, 11 shallow-water and 15 deep-water blocks have been opened for international energy firms.
The power ministry detailed the new PSC and bidding framework at a press conference at the Secretariat on Sunday.
State Minister for Energy Aninda Islam Amit said the bidding round was announced with notices published in six national newspapers and also being circulated through Bangladesh’s embassies, high commissions and official website.
According to the schedule, interested companies can collect tender documents until November and submit bids by 1pm on Nov 30.
Bids will open at 2pm that day.
Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku unveiled the “Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract 2026” and outlined key changes, including allowing full repatriation of profits abroad.
The new PSC removes signature bonuses and royalties.
The new PSC stipulates that gas pricing will be pegged to the Brent crude price in the international market.
The operating company, on the other hand, will have the provision to export gas or sell its share to a third party in the domestic market.
Petrobangla will, however, retain the right of first refusal in both scenarios.
Provisions have been made for tariff payments through the buyer to support pipeline investments for oil and gas exploration in both shallow and deep-sea blocks.
A 100 percent “cost recovery” facility has been kept for both types of blocks, capped at a maximum of 75 percent per year.
According to the tender notice, to bid for a shallow-sea block, a company must have experience producing at least 5,000 barrels of oil or 75mmcfd of gas per day in an offshore block.
For deep-sea blocks, the threshold is a daily production of 10,000 barrels of oil or 100mmcfd of gas.
A new PSC had been formulated in March 2024 during the tenure of the ousted Awami League government.
The Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration extended a bidding deadline during its tenure but failed to strike a deal.
Although seven international companies had purchased the tender documents at the time, none ultimately submitted proposals.
A massive opportunity for deep-sea exploration opened up after the resolution of maritime boundary disputes with Myanmar in 2012 and India in 2014.
The 2012 PSC was also unsuccessful in securing a sustainable deal with foreign gas exploration companies.
A new PSC was drafted in 2019, but no tenders were floated at that time.
Later, bidding was invited in 2024 in light of the PSC 2023.
Tuku told journalists that American and Chinese companies have shown interest in the new initiative.
At the press conference, Energy Secretary Mohammad Saiful Islam said they had communicated with international oil companies to understand why the immediate past bidding round received no response.
The companies' objections included matching gas prices with the international market, introducing a pipeline tariff to transport deep-sea gas to the shore, reviewing a 5 percent contribution to the Workers' Profit Participation Fund (WPPF), and providing adequate data on the blocks.
Addressing these four issues, the new PSC has been developed over the past year through collaborative work with international oil companies, foreign consultants, and local petroleum experts, journalists heard at the press conference.
