The last time gas was discorvered in the sea was 11 years ago and the only things that have happened since are discussions and speculations.

However, momentum is now building to resume exploration efforts, raising the question of whether this new initiative will succeed where previous attempts have failed.

Following years of inactivity, the interim government, which assumed power after the fall of the Awami League administration, is now looking to advance this long-delayed process.

The hope is to open a part of the sea's untapped "blue economy."

To move forward without further delay, Energy Advisor Fouzul Kabir Khan spoke to bdnews24.com about accelerating the process of awarding exploration contracts.

As part of the initial phase of offshore oil and gas exploration, the process of selecting exploration companies is nearly complete.

Two American multinational companies and five Asian oil and gas firms have expressed interest.

The full scope of this interest will become clearer on Monday.

Zanendra Nath Sarker, chairman of the state-run Petrobangla, overseeing the offshore bidding, is optimistic about receiving a positive response from these companies.

The deadline for submitting bids is set for 1pm on Monday, after which the evaluation process will begin.

Seven international companies have collected the tender documents.

Zanendra said Petrobangla would proceed based on the proposals submitted by the companies.

Reaching this point in offshore gas exploration has been a lengthy journey for Bangladesh.

After the failure of the previous attempt in 2019, a new round of tenders was issued in March this year.

The government invited bids to lease 24 sea blocks, including nine shallow and 15 deep blocks, with the original deadline set for Sept 9.

However, after the political shift due to a student-led mass uprising in August, the deadline was extended by three months to Dec 9.

Ultimately, seven companies collected the tender documents.

This time, American multinational ExxonMobil has shown interest in exploring the Bay of Bengal, joining competition with Chevron, another US company focused on land-based gas exploration.

Other interested companies include Singapore-based KrisEnergy, with prior experience in gas exploration in Bangladesh, and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, ONGC, which is already engaged in exploration in the Bay of Bengal’s shallow blocks (SS-4 and SS-9).

New entrants in the sector include Japan's Inpex, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, and China’s CNOOC.

Petrobangla is now awaiting to see how many of the interested companies follow through with their bids.

Officials say the companies paid $10,000 to collect the necessary documents, and their actual interest will only be revealed once they submit their proposals.

Energy expert Prof M Tamim told bdnews24.com that offshore oil and gas exploration is crucial for Bangladesh.

However, the country has struggled to attract international contractors in the past.

He believes the new PSC model is more realistic, providing a potential opportunity.

"Still, since this is a major investment, it will depend on the final contractors," he added.