Bangladesh says US energy firm ConocoPhillips is seeking to expand operations in the Bay of Bengal following a UN tribunal border ruling which cleared the way for more offshore oil and gas exploration in the region.
A senior energy official said on Sunday the US company sought exploration rights in six new deep-water gas blocks in the Bay after a tribunal ruled last month in favour of Bangladesh in a decades-old maritime border dispute with Myanmar.
"The US firm has expressed its willingness to get more blocks to explore oil and gas in the deep sea," said Muhammad Hussain Monsur, chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation known as Petrobangla. ConocoPhillips made no comment.