With the US oil giant Chevron ignoring the government’s request, Petrobangla, the state-owned oil and gas corporation, has written a letter to the Board of Investment (BOI) and Joint Stock Companies and Firms (JSCF) to block all its activities for transferring its shares to a Chinese consortium named Himalaya Energy Co. Ltd. This Chinese consortium is owned by China ZhenHua Oil Co. and CNIC Corporation Ltd. Again, government officials are concerned as Himalaya has established its office in Dhaka without taking any permission from the government.
“We cannot believe such an international company can bring in Himalaya without our permission. They have ignored all our requests and communications that we have sent them over the past two months,” said an official of the Energy Division. Sources said with the transfer of shares to the Chinese company, the situation has become volatile, as both sides are in a confrontational situation. Against this backdrop, the government has called an emergency meeting on the Chevron issue on Thursday at the Secretariat. The meeting will be headed by Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the energy adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.    Employees of the US company vented their ire when Himalaya’s officials established their office at the Chevron head office at Gulshan. Asraf Uz Zaman, treasurer of the Chevron Bangladesh Employees Union (CBEU), told The Independent: “We feel insecure now. We
condemn their activities, such as data transfer and deactivation of some software brought with the money of the people of the country.”
He alleged that Chevron’s HR manager Tracy Rattray has sent letters to the employees, threatening them that if they do not engage in ‘illegal activities’, Chevron would fire them.
Sources said the employees are demanding their 5 per cent share of profits for the past eight months, but the management has ignored the demand.
Yesterday, at 10am, some employees, including CBEU president Nasim Azim and functionary GS Shahriar Abedin, went to meet the top brass on the ninth floor of the Gulshan office to get an update on the status of the share transfer and to place their demands. The Chevron management blocked them at the gate and kept them locked inside for three hours. “We rescued them later with the help of all the employees. We have filed a general diary (GD) with the Gulshan police station,” Asraf added.
Chevron’s spokesperson said in a statement, “Following six months of engagement with employee representatives, the Chevron Bangladesh companies announced a generous package of benefits that would be provided to all employees in the event of a concluded sale. The package included guaranteed employment for two years and a goodwill bonus payment equivalent to nine months’ salary. Regretfully, employee representatives have refused to accept this benefits package and have instead elected to declare an Industrial dispute with the Company. The Company remains committed to adhering to all applicable laws and regulations with respect to employee rights in the event of a concluded sale and will maintain dialogue with our employees on these issues.”
On October 14 last year, Nasrul Hamid, the state minister for power, energy, and mineral resources, had told the media that the Bangladesh government had offered to buy all the natural gas assets of Chevron in Bangladesh. “We are interested in buying the assets. It will be a big opportunity for us to have access to the entire production of the three gas fields,” he had said.
But Chevron did not respond to the interest evinced by the government, and instead handed over its shares to the Chinese companies.
Referring to a letter to Chevron, the government official said as per the production sharing contract (PSC), the US oil giant would have to take permission for transfer of shares to the Chinese company, but it has not yet applied for such transfer. Sources said as Chevron’s management is not responding to the government, the top echelons of the government are annoyed with the attitude of the energy company. As a result, Petrobangla has urged government offices to block the transfer of the company’s shares.
The government official said without hampering the production of the Chevron fields, the Energy Division will take stern action on Thursday. “We are telling them to stop their share transfer, yet they are just doing it. We will inform the meeting on Thursday about the situation,” said an official. This month, Petrobangla has adjusted USD 48 million from Chevron’s gas sales bill to prepare a fund for the Bangladesh employees of the US oil giant. Another USD 3 million will be adjusted from the next bill, a Petrobangla official told The Independent recently. “As per the court order, we have created a fund of some USD 51 million for profit share dues of Chevron’s employees. The US company was supposed to be paid about USD 48 million against its bill for March 2017. This amount has been deducted for the profit-sharing fund. The rest of the money will be adjusted from Chevron’s next month’s bill,” Petrobangla’s director (finance) Md Towhid Hasanat Khan said.