Photo : TDM
USA-based gas company Chevron may halt its gas supply to Bangladesh’s national grid if the company’s outstanding bill of $28,07,26,589.48, which is equal to nearly 3,000 crore taka, is not paid by August 31 this year.
The country has been grappling with pesky issues one after another as only a few days back Bangladesh had to face almost a similar sort of payment issues with regard to coal and LNG supply by foreign entities.
According to the Production Sharing Contract (PSC), article 14.3 GPSA payment “Seller shall not be obligated to supply any Gas to Buyer if Buyer's payments are more than five (05) months late from when payment is due. In this event, seller shall have the right to defer delivery of Gas without violating this Agreement or the PSC until all unpaid payments for the Gas delivered to Buyer are three (03) months overdue. All quantities of Gas for which Seller shall defer deliveries hereunder shall be deemed to have been delivered to Buyer for purposes of calculating ACQ, DCQ, Take-or-Pay Volume, Deficiency Volume and other relevant provisions hereunder. Each day of deferral shall extend the Production Period by one day.”
On July 15, Chairman of state-owned Petrobangla Zanendra Nath Sarker wrote a letter to the Finance Division asking to write to the Bangladesh Bank for arranging US dollars so that the outstanding bills can be paid in the American greenback.
An official of the Energy Division told The Daily Messenger on condition of anonymity, “Yes, we have learnt about the issue of Chevron Bangladesh’s outstanding bills, but still, we didn’t get any green signal from the ministry to deal with the matter.”
When asked, Abu Saqlayen, General Manager, Development and Production, Petrobangla, said, “This is a highly confidential issue. I cannot say anything about the matter. The relevant official will talk about the issue.”
According to the letter, Chevron supplies gas and condensate to the country’s national grid from Bibiana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar gas fields under Production Sharing Agreement (PSC), Gas Purchase Sale Agreement (GPSA) and Condensate Purchase Sale Agreement (CPSA).
Chevron submitted invoices from last April 2012 to May 2023 due to getting unpaid, partially paid and late payment, including interest, current sum of unpaid bill in favour of Chevron amounts to US$280,726,589.48.
It is noted that the total sum of unpaid amount is gradually increasing every month.
The letter further stated that about 1300 million cubic feet of gas is being supplied to the national gas grid daily from Bibiana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar gas fields, which are operated by Chevron. The supply amount is more than 55 percent of the country’s total gas production. Chevron operates in accordance with the GPSA articles.
In the letter, Chevron has requested for payment of $280,726,589.48 by ensuing August 31. Pursuant to the relevant articles of the said agreements, Petrobangla is obligated to pay Chevron's bills in US dollars.
Asked about the impending issue, State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, “Yes, Chevron has written a letter to us for clearing up the bills by this August. We are trying to manage the required sum of US dollars to clear up the bills.”
TDM/SD
