Kaladan News

Dated: 26^th November 2004

Dhaka to Attend Energy Co-op Talks In Burma

Chittagong, November 26: Bangladesh will sit with India and Burma in Rangoon in January 2004 to discuss cooperation in energy sector but exact agenda for the tripartite dialogue is not yet finalized, said State Minister for Energy Mosharraf Hossain of Bangladesh on 24^th November 2004.

“But it is likely that we will discuss a pipeline network through which Burma plans to export gas to India via Tripura, Bangladesh and West Bengal,” said Hossain. “The Burma energy minister had earlier expressed his interest in this regard.”

Quoting foreign ministry, Hossain said the Indian energy minister has also expressed interest in using Bangladesh as transit corridor for the gas pipeline.

“But there has not been any formal proposal from India yet. Therefore, the report of reaching an agreement on the matter is untrue,” said Hossain refuting a Reuter’s report that quoted him as saying that Bangladesh has agreed in principal to tri-nation pipeline proposal.

“We have a proposal for a cross-country pipeline network, which is yet to be approved by the cabinet committee. I hope it will be okayed soon,” he added.

Burma is keen to sell its gas as it has discovered huge reserve gas in Arakan offshore and is unable to find domestic market. India, on the other hand, has been scouting around the globe for oil and gas sources to meet its surging demand.

Bangladesh only can gain from such a pipeline project by collecting wheeling charges gas transmission, the state minister pointed out.

A local business outfit, Mohona Holdings, was first to come up with the proposal for a tri-nation gas pipeline in 1999. However, it never gained ground for various reasons, stated in the “The Daily Star”.

Meanwhile, India’s oil minister told Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on 24^th November in New Delhi that talks on a proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan should go ahead as part of a push for more regional trade.

“We did repeat what we have said earlier about using Pakistan as transit corridor (for sourcing gas from Iran,” Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters, according to AFP.

India, which is able to produce only 30 percent of its energy requirements, has been scouting around the globe for oil and gas sources, including projects in Sudan, Burma and Russia. ##

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