Unrest delays Chevron gas project in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Dec 11: Political unrest ahead of a general election in Bangladesh next month has caused a delay in planned new gas production in the country by U.S. firm Chevron , a senior Bangladeshi official said on Monday.

Chevron was due to begin production at the Bibiyana gas field in Block 12 in northeastern Habiganj district next week but political protests have led to a series of transport blockades in recent weeks, shutting down businesses and ports.

''Chevron could not bring in the necessary equipment for the project,'' Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, chairman of state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas&Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla), told Reuters.

At least 44 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes across Bangladesh between rival political activists over the past six weeks ahead of the Jan. 23 elections.

Chevron's Bibiyana project is a huge undertaking and its development has been a complex process from the start, a senior official of the firm said.

''Now our target is to commission the Bibiyana project by February 2007. I am confident that we will be able to finish the project safely and efficiently,'' Andrew L. Fawthrop, president and managing director of Chevron's Bangladesh office, told Reuters.

Chevron will initially produce 200 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd), increasing that by 100 mmcfd each year until 2010, making it the country's largest gas production field, another company official said.

''Bibiyana is a world class gas resource that is expected to supply reliable, clean energy to Bangladesh for approximately the next 20-30 years,'' the company said in a statement.

Chevron has so far spent 0 million on the field, raising its total investment to 0 million in Bangladesh, the official said.

Bibiyana has an estimated 5.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas and 30.7 million barrels of condensate in reserve.

It will have as many as 15 wells.

In terms of reserves, Bibiyana is the country's second largest field after the Titas gas field, which has some 8.0 TCF of gas reserve, energy officials said.

Chevron is also producing gas from two other fields in Bangladesh -- one at Jalalabad in Block 13 and another at Moulavibazar in Block 14.

Petrobangla says the Jalalabad field is now producing 225 mmcfd of gas and the Moulavibazar 112 mmcfd.

Chevron signed a Gas Purchase and Sales Agreement with state-owned Petrobangla for Bibiyana gas in November 2005.

Reuters