DHAKA, April 10: The state-run Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has proposed to Bangladesh a joint search for gas in areas which have remained unexplored. ONGC Director Dr AK Balyan, in a letter to the state minister for energy and mineral resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain on April 4, said that the corporation was interested in joint exploration with Petrobangla.

He said they came to know that the Bangladesh government was Preparing for production sharing contracts for the areas that had remained untapped. The corporation was interested in this regard, he added.

The state minister for energy and mineral resources told Dawn that the ONGC’s proposal was the newest in a series of offers made by companies from different countries. “We have got five to six proposals from different countries for gas exploration, especially in the offshore blocks.”