Amid protests from different civic forums and political organisations, the state-run oil and gas resources authority Petrobangla will today sign a deal with US oil giant ConocoPhillips for oil and gas exploration and extraction from deep sea hydrocarbon blocks 10 and 11 in the Bay of Bengal.
The national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports called on the people to hoist black flags on their houses on the day across the country as mark of protest.
Experts and activists have been protesting at the government's move for oil and gas exploration and extraction under model production sharing contract-2008 that was initiated by the immediate past interim government.
They warned that there were provisions in the model PSC- 2008 and certain geo-political circumstances that would not protect the national interest and encourage 100 per cent gas export in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas from two hydrocarbon blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
Officials of Petrobangla and energy ministry, however, claimed that there were also provisions in the model PSC according to which the contractor would be allowed for export the natural gas only if Petrobangla would permit.
About the condition in the PSC, experts and activists said that the energy ministry and Petrobangla had violated such conditions in the past and gave many facilities to the IOCs ignoring national interest.
Petrobangla had allowed Cairn Energy to sell
its part on the total recoverable gas from hydrocarbon block 16 directly to the private sector at a negotiated price.
The oil-gas protection body on Tuesday held a demonstration demanding to scrap the proposed deal with ConocoPhillips.
They also threatened to announce tough agitation programmes, including general strikes and a march towards Dhaka in October if the government does not drop its plan to lease out the offshore gas blocks.
source:New Age
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