Chevron Bangladesh’s fresh investment proposal to ramp up onshore gas exploration gets under processing, sources say, amid a thrust on energy search to meet shortages of fuels in the country.
The energy ministry has asked state-run Petrobangla to review the investment proposal from the US multinational.
Chevron Bangladesh, a part of the global energy company Chevron, submitted the investment proposal for further hydrocarbon exploration in block-11 and block-12 in the country’s gas-rich northeastern region.
The American company is currently installing a compression station near Jalalbad gas field at a cost of around US$65 million to increase gas production from nearby producing gas fields.
The project is expected to be completed within 30 months, making additional gas available by 2028.
Chevron’s investment proposal for these unexplored onshore areas in the Surma basin is long pending for approval by Bangladesh government.
The company has recently renewed interest in making further investment there to ramp up the country’s overall natural-gas output against the backdrop of growing energy crisis since the beginning of the Middle East crisis late February, dwindling local gas reserves and mounting demand in industries, power plants and fertiliser factories.
Sources could not confirm how much investment Chevron will pour into these onshore blocks, but said that it would be no less than US$500 million.
“Chevron has planned to drill a good number of wells in new exploration areas and would be able to supply natural gas within the shortest possible time,” said one source.
The US company is learnt to have sought to link the gas price to the price of Brent Crude on the international market and demanded that the price should be 10 per cent of the Brent Crude price, which will be variable.
Under the current international market rate, the price would be US$9.0 per cubic meter, considering the Brent Crude price at US$90 per barrel, which is around three times higher than the price at which it sells gas to Petrobangla from the currently operational gas fields.
Chevron placed the proposal after carrying out ‘exploration study’ in 11 onshore blocks, fully or partially, to delineate new hydrocarbon prospects over the past couple of years.
Among the blocks 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14, which were studied by Chevron, few are still vacant, or unexplored, some owned by state-run Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd (BGFCL) and some owned by Sylhet Gas Fields Ltd (SGFL) and the remaining are Chevron’s.
During the study, the company attained access to relevant data and carried out study in reservoir ‘stratography’, and unconventional reservoir ‘farcies.’
Officials have said the US firm attained a 60-square-kilometer ‘flank’ area from Petrobangla outside its existing contract zone to the north of the Bibiyana gas field in the gas-rich region during the previous Awami League government.
It also invested around US$150 million in drilling a couple of new wells BY-27 and BY-28.
The onshore block-11 is one of the several blocks that were kept ring-fenced for development by BAPEX.
Chevron Bangladesh is currently the largest producer of natural gas in Bangladesh with its output of around 890 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from three of its onshore fields — Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulavi Bazar, which are located in blocks 12, 13 and 14 respectively, according to official data of Petrobangla as on August 1, 2026.
The country’s overall natural-gas output hover around 2,151mmcfd, including 500mmcfd regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the remaining 1,651mmcfd from local gas fields that include the Chevron-operated ones.
Previously, the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation or Petrobangla had turned down a similar proposal from Chevron to develop onshore Rashidpur gas field, owned by the corporation’s subsidiary Sylhet Gas Fields Ltd (SGFL).
Chevron then also had sought 10 per cent of the Brent Crude price for Rashidpur gas after development of the field and initiating production.
Instead of allowing it to develop Rashidpur gas field, Petrobangla has engaged its subsidiary Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (BAPEX) to drill extensively over there.
More than a decade back in 2015, Chevron also had proposed to invest around US$650 million in installing a new compression station at Bibiyana gas field and drilling three more wells in Jalalabad gas field, tagging condition of annual tariff hike by 3.0 per cent for Bibiyana gas.
The US firm later dropped the investment plan as Petrobangla rejected its plea for annual hike in gas tariffs. Chevron instead announced sellout of its Bangladesh stakes to Chinese joint-venture Himalaya Energy in April 2017.
The US firm reversed its decision in October 2017 when Petrobangla moved to acquire its assets. It decided not to sell off its Bangladesh stakes but to stay in Bangladesh.
Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/chevrons-onshore-search-offer-under-fresh-vetting
