ExxonMobil and Chevron held preliminary talks in early 2020 to explore a merger which, a senior Petrobangla official said, would not have much of an impact on Chevron's Bangladesh chapter.
The discussions between the chief executives of the companies are no longer ongoing but would have led to the biggest merger of all time.
Requesting anonymity, the Petrobangla official – who has direct knowledge of the production sharing contract under which Chevron operates in Bangladesh – said that the impacts on regional businesses, generally, are not high as mergers and profit sharing take place between parent companies.
Another official said the impact on Chevron's Bangladesh stake would depend on the merger's terms and conditions.
At present, Chevron is the largest international oil company in Bangladesh that produces gas from local fields. It now operates three gas fields in Sylhet, supplying over 55% of the total use of natural gas in the country to Petrobangla.
In 2005, Chevron got the ownership of blocks 12, 13 and 14 in the Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar fields after its merger with Unocal Corporation.
At present, Chevron is producing 1,555 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) in Bangladesh whereas the three state-owned gas companies are producing only 820 mmcfd.
