The gas rush

Bangladesh these days is getting to know what noveau celebrityhood is all about. Sitting on a potential USD 25 billion treasury chest of gas deposits, gone are the days when this deltaic country could only attract foreign aid workers. Now it´s the turn of energy entrepreneurs, (see page 56)

But, as is the case with newfound celebrity status, the Dhaka government is realising that the experience can be an unnerving one: a blown gas field; rumours of financial skullduggery; relentless pressure from cut-throat multinationals and their battery of lawyers; a sacked energy minister; bidding scandals; and the accusation that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed is lining up the richest gas-field of them all for her close friend.
All these find the government squirming in acute discomfort, without a real clue about what to do with this recently discovered gift of nature. Then there are the heated arguments over selling or not selling gas to India, and the fears of repeating a Nigeria where poor villagers can only helplessly stare at the export pipelines that pass them by. Finally, there is this doomsday scenario: what if the reserves dry up within 20 years, leaving Dhaka "paved with gold", and the rest of Bangladesh in "literal darkness", as some predict?