MUMBAI, March 9: British Gas, the UK-based energy major, has stepped in as a possible rival contender for the proposed trans-border Indo-Bangladesh natural-gas project Enron Corp of the US has mooted.British Gas is believed to be lobbying with top-level Bangladesh government officials, especially for the task of generating natural gas at the source, according to those in the know.
It is also believed that Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), the development-banking institution born-again as aggressive fund managers, private-equity investors and financial-advisors, has been given the key consultancy task of holding the hands of Bangladesh government in the preliminary stages of the project.
CDC, for reasons of origin and base, has intimate links with the UK, but will seek to play an impartial role in selecting the ideal party for the project, if and when progress is achieved on the implementation front, said a CDC source.
The project itself is believed to be little more than a twinkle in theEnron top brass' eye. It is believed that Enron's major interest lies not in generating the gas, nor in the pipeline through which it has to be transported to the Indian end over the Indo-Bangladesh border, but in the distribution of the gas to users at the domestic end.
At a recent mega-summit of industry and government in Calcutta, Enron Power CEO Rebecca Mark had said as much, and suggested, without any intent at official announcement, that the pipeline could even be built by Unocal, a multinational construction company with whom Enron works extensively internationally.
It is believed that the pipeline and energy-distribution business has been dreamed up by Enron along the lines of a similar operation successfully implemented between the borders of Brazil and Bolivia -- a case of integrating economies of disparate sizes.
The north-eastern areas of Bangladesh are known to possess substantial natural-gas reserves, and because Bangladesh does not have the necessary resources to harness this energy,much of it is wasted through flaring.It is believed that the potential of this project was the rationale behind the recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Enron Corp with the RPG group, which has extensive power operations based in Calcutta, including distribution rights for the West Bengal capital itself.
It is believed that so far, interest in the natural-gas project has been evinced by one of Enron's two main branches of operation: that of the power group.
The other branch, Enron Oil & Gas, is more directly interested in pipelines and exploration. Together, the two constitute the fastest-growing multinational energy operations.
