Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Phulbari - Coal capital of Bangladesh Video All makes perfect sense...This one is older as they are talking export and 500mw power station, all that's changed now as no export and much bigger on site power station. If anything more necessary than ever to rescue the county from financial disaster... Gary Lye has aged a little since then !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-d2LzK9X7Q
11 years old video, I either missed this at the time or have forgotten it (old age and info overload)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uuyGOprERM
They are in deep poo, and it isn't going to get any better unless there is a massive rethink
The Bangladesh Bank sold $3.75 billion to banks in the period between July 1 and October 8 as the country’s banks were struggling with a severe dollar crisis which made the settling of letter of credit payments difficult for the banks.
Presently, the net reserve hovers at $17 billion.
The reserve was $41.8 billion on June 30, 2022 and $46.2 billion in September 2021.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/215056/bangladesh-bank-sells-375b-to-banks-in-three-months-amid-dollar-crisis
Seeing articles like this in print is significant. A big risk for the author.
It would be unfair to not acknowledge the flight of capital and money laundering as one of the final nails in the economic coffin we are in at the moment. The Washington-based think tank Global Financial Integrity has been publishing information on Bangladesh since 2004. GFI data for other countries is available up to 2017, but information on Bangladesh has remained stagnant since 2015. This happened, as is feared, because Bangladesh has ‘mysteriously’ refrained from providing data on international trade to the UN since 2016.
According to Global Financial Integrity, $7.53 billion has been laundered each year from Bangladesh. We have ranked 33rd among the 135 developing countries in regards to our prowess in money laundering. An interesting and alarming trend emerges in terms of the frequency of capital flight in relation to electoral cycles. One news report mentions that deposits in Swiss banks from Bangladesh rose drastically during 2006 and 2007 amid electoral uncertainties, but they trickled down in 2008 due to strict measures taken by the military-backed caretaker government. The deposits again dramatically rose prior to the 2014 election. It would be interesting to track how deposits are faring from Bangladesh to the Swiss Bank or other foreign destinations in the months before the election
Will they just walk over the cliff to political annihilation and civil unrest or lose face and do something sensible....
'In the power sector, for example, we witnessed that through the Power Sector Master Plan of 2017 and policies such as the Special Provision Act, the government shifted the energy sector towards an import-based model. This meant power plants operating on coal and LNG were completely dependent on the international market to meet national energy needs. Quick-rental power plants and independent power producers have been repeatedly mentioned in news articles for how much they have been charging capacity charges, draining the national economy. The IMF itself has warned the government of its overcapacity in the power sector and how it is just bleeding away precious foreign reserves by providing capacity charges for idle quick-rental power plants owned by very powerful business and political elites. In most cases, in the power sector, the business and the political elites are not separate but are one and the same.'
https://www.newagebd.net/article/215040/bleeding-economy
Growing backlog in payments to independent producers a bottleneck in power sector
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/energy/growing-backlog-payments-independent-producers-bottleneck-power-sector-718814
Thanks Searcher , a very interesting article, the nub of the issue with Bara is they have tried underground mining from the central parts because the seam is deeper there and that's been a disaster, it costs way more to produce that coal than it does import it and the massive subsidence has caused hardship all around...because it's too shallow and they are limited in what the can do to avoid fatal collapses. as stated in the article "Whatever coal has been produced, it was extracted from the central part of the mine. So, the northern and southern parts, comparatively shallow reserves, are yet to be developed," he added.
According to a proposal sent to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division on January 29 this year, Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited projected that approximately six million tonnes of coal could be produced annually from these two parts if open-pit mining is conducted. However, no decision has been delivered to the mine operator"
To answer an earlier post the reason Phulbari would not be mined by underground methods it's too shallow, just like the rest of Bara, it's too dangerous and and even if you could uneconomical. There was talk a few years back about the prospects of OP at Bara and the narrative back then was it was not economically viable unless combined with Phulbari. All this stuff takes time, and it's a very complex scenario right now in BD - where things take much longer than the rest of the world at the best of times - coincidentally 2027/8 isn't that the projected timeline for Phulbari coming online if we get the SOD approved in 2024. After 15 years plus here I am of the opinion that if it's going to happen it will be in the next 6-12 months, don't think it will be announced before the 'election' if they can help it , but that could all change rapidly if civil unrest about the current situation gets out of hand before then. Interesting times.
Giza, until the SOD (Scheme of Development) is approved GCM cannot do the Solar farm. Once it is approved the land zoning changes and then they could get approval but I suspect the solar would be included in it
Although it is clear that the country simply cannot afford to be dependent on foreign import of primary energy, Bangladesh refuses to expedite domestic exploration of natural energy resources. The continued failure to do so is resulting in all sorts of default in payment for power consumed, which in turn is pushing corporations like Petrobangla to the point of financial ruin.
https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/editorial/after-bpc-petrobangla-is-in-financial-crisis-1695392836
Hi Pete.
The 'Energy Advisor' has become increasingly isolated, everyone else is saying the opposite, tbh I don't think he is well, he cannot lose face and admit that his advice has been wrong as he was the man behind the import policy. Wrong Energy Policy that had this Energy Adviser at its centre.
PM's and President's quoted comments show a realisation of this error.
These comments were from a discredited advisor, not the Energy Minister who is Nasrul Hamid ad the guy who not that long ago in parliament said the only discovered and viable OP mine in BD was Phulbari.
Https://bangladeshpost.net/posts/president-calls-for-ensuring-optimal-use-of-energy-118049
President says: "In view of this, the government is taking and implementing appropriate plans to increase production of domestic natural gas and coal."
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/321990/pm-discovery-of-new-gas-fields-helps-establish
"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said that rational use of gas resources, discovery of new gas fields and construction of gas and coal-based infrastructures will act as the main driving force for establishing a smart, prosperous and developed Bangladesh."
Some facts on those 'new'gas fields...all discoverable by searching online....
Sundalpur discovered 2017, Srikail 2004, Rupganj 2014, Bhola North 2 2022 but to quote tbsnews 'However, unless a gas pipeline is established from the island district of Bhola to the mainland, there will be no benefit from the gas found there to meet the country's energy crisis, said sources at the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla).' Zakiganj in 2021 and Ilisha 1 also in Bhola 2023 but 'Due to the lack of pipeline and transmission facilities, the government was unable to supply the surplus gas from the Bhola field to other energy-hungry industrial zones in Dhaka and elsewhere'
'As part of these activities, a total of six new gas fields - Sundalpur, Srikail, Rupganj, Bhola North, Zakiganj and Ilisha - have been discovered, she said'
All spin, there is no newly discovered field with any significant gas, they have to do Phulbari but self interest and spinning will need sorting be fore they announce anything, something along the lines of 'it was always part of our masterplan to utilise this coal but were saving it for the future, that time has come, we were always aware global circumstances could change radically and through our prudence we are able once again to set in motion a project that will enable the nation to prosper for decades to come' ......
Seems they are strongly hinting at the what the real problem is, but too scared to say it directly. There is very little press freedom in Bangladesh especially around the energy policies.
The main reason for the high construction cost is that it includes the deep sea port building cost, which is Tk 20,000 crore.
Asked about the rationale for including the port construction cost in the power plant building cost, Matarbari coal-fired power project’s project director Azad said that the power plant needed the port for coal import.
The high construction cost of Matarbari is going to be passed onto the power bills, which have already been increased three times this year, leading to the worst inflation in 12 years.
It feels frustrating as there is no way of holding the government accountable for its excessive spending,’ said M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser, Consumers Association of Bangladesh.
The speedy power and energy supply act offers indemnity for people involved in power and energy projects from any legal actions.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/208275/matarbari-offers-costliest-coal-power
At least two spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers have given Petrobangla three working days to clear their unpaid bills totalling around US$113 million or face supply halt, said sources.
The spot suppliers who gave the cut-off time over the payment backlog-purportedly for dollar dearth with the state-run importer of the fuel--are French TotalEnergies and Singapore-based Gunvor.
Of the two, Gunvor in a recent letter to Petrobangla threatened to cease spot LNG-cargo supply for the months of July and August unless the overdue payments are cleared within three working days
https://beta.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/spot-suppliers-forewarn-of-stopping-lng-supply
There are no quick fixes for mess they have created but one of the quickest medium term fixes (3-4 years) is to set in motion utilising their own coal at phulbari. Apart from the obvious financial benefits and the perception that they are thinking of the long term health of the nation there is the fact that political parties are always thinking ahead for their own survival and setting Phulbari in motion now would be reaping the peak of benefits big time for the election after this one
The Placing, the Subscription and the Open Offer are each conditional, inter alia, upon the passing of the Resolutions by Shareholders at the General Meeting, to be held at the offices of Memery Crystal at 165 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2DY on 2 August 2023 at 11.00 a.m.
I am pretty sure the company have in the past said that op at Bara was economically and practically unviable and would only be viable if combined with Phulbari, the energy minister has said in Parliament that 'open pit mining is only feasible in Phulbar, other deposits are to be extracted by underground'.
It is only logical that as neighbours they would be talking to us about the possibility of working together, noted also in the article that Hassina had this request handed to her personally back in march, so I suspect there has been a lot of talk going on behind the scenes.
Noted also the angle on the story, the locals are asking for it. Interesting times.