Dhaka Bureau: Bangladesh Oil, Gas, and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla) is not able to pay the price on time after buying gas and LNG from multinational companies. The state-owned organization currently owes 467 million dollars, or about 5 thousand 9 million taka, to these companies. Due to non-payment of dues, the debt burden increases with interest on the principal bill. At the same time, there is a fear of disrupting the import of LNG in the new desired amount. In such a situation, apart from seeking loans from the Ministry of Finance, Petrobangla has sought the assistance of Bangladesh Bank for the necessary dollar resources to pay the bills of foreign companies.
Sources in the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources and Petrobangla said that the American company Chevron currently supplies 60–65 percent of the total gas available from domestic gas fields in the country. Another company that supplies gas from local mines is Tallo. And Qatar’s Ras Gas and Oman’s OQ Trading supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) under long-term contracts. Besides, LNG is also imported from the open market. These companies collectively owe more than $467 million to Petrobangla. The overdue bills range from 2 months to 6 months old. Bills cannot be paid as dollars cannot be raised from the interbank foreign exchange market. As a result, late fees are added to the invoice price.
Recently, the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Petrobangla, and Bangladesh Bank held several rounds of discussions and letters in this regard. Sources present at the meeting said that in a meeting last week, Bangladesh Bank assured the energy department that it would arrange dollar resources to pay the bills. He said that gas supply should be kept uninterrupted to keep the wheels of electricity, industrial production, and commercial activities running in the country. Besides, the amount of imported or local production also needs to be increased. In such a situation, long-term arrears will disrupt gas supply. Some international oil companies have said that they will not supply new fuel if the dues are not paid. Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation is facing quite a challenge in this regard. Petrobangla’s challenges are also increasing.
According to Petrobangla sources, Chevron extracts natural gas from the Bibiana and Jalalabad gas fields. The American multinational oil and gas company supplies 60–65 percent of local production and 43 percent of total gas consumption. Petrobangla has owed 219 million dollars to Chevron since November last year. In addition, under the long-term contract with Ras Gas of Qatar, the world’s largest LNG company, 69 million 70 thousand dollars are due for LNG import, and 5 million 4 million 66 thousand dollars are due to Oman’s OQ Trading Limited. Besides, there are arrears of Rs. 11 crore, 38 lakh, and 20 thousand due to the purchase of LNG from the spot market. Janata Bank has to settle the bulk of these outstanding bills. Apart from this, Agrani Bank and IFIC Bank also have to pay bills worth 7 crore, 67 lakh, 80 thousand, and 35 lakh, 40 thousand dollars, respectively, against the LC opened in their banks. For this, Petrobangla has written to the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Bangladesh Bank.
