Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa seek share in Bangladesh gas

Jyoti Mukul

New Delhi, Dec 2: While the proposal to get Bangladeshi gas into India may still be only in the air, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa have already started asking for their share.

Petroleum ministry officials said that considering the demand of over 10 million standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd) of gas in these three eastern states, it makes sense to first feed this region through a pipeline network costing Rs 500 crore than bringing this gas up to Delhi at a cost of about Rs 1,500 crore. However, officials said the proposal is still at a nascent stage and no final decision has been taken on this as yet.

On being contacted, Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail) chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee confirmed that the West Bengal government has evinced interest in gas in a recent meeting, but added that it can be from any source.

However, officials claimed that the government is not in a hurry to get the Bangladeshi gas as within a span of one-and-half year it will be able to gauge the volume of gas available from domestic finds. “We are expecting some good finds by Cairn, Reliance and ONGC in east coast offshore fields in both shallow and deep waters. In another two years, we will know whether at all we need the Bangladeshi gas,” said an official.

Gas export to India is a politically sensitive issue in Bangladesh amidst growing anti-India sentiments.

Unocal Corporation, which has struck huge gas finds in Bangladesh, is currently pitching hard on both sides of the border for exporting gas to India. It proposes to do this by laying a 1,350 km pipeline from the Bibiyana gas field in Bangladesh right up till the interjection of HBJ pipeline in Uttar Pradesh and further till Delhi.

The government, on its part, has formed a consortium of Gail, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil for doing the needful on the Indian side. Things would get going only if the Bangladesh government grants approval for gas exports.

Interestingly, there has been a reversal of roles in Bangladesh. Ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Begum Khaleda Zia, had been opposing gas exports when in opposition, but is now eager to export it while Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League wanted to go ahead with exports when in power, but is now opposing it. However, newly-elected prime minister Begum Zia was forced to form an expert committee on November 15 to assess the quantum of gas reserves. The move is being seen as an attempt to buy time after Begum Zia buckled under pressure from the Opposition.

Unocal, which is also getting the US to do some tough talking with Bangladesh, has at stake $325-million investment. It claims that the benefits to Bangladesh will include $3.7 billion in revenue to Bangladesh government over 20 years and $500-700 million in immediate foreign direct investment.

There are conflicting claims on the quantum of gas in Bangladesh. Official figures are reported to put the proven recoverable gas reserves at 13 trillion cubic feet (tcf), of which more than 3 tcf has already been extracted. However, Unocal claims that the country has about 61 tcf of proven and probable reserves.