The interim govt listens and values feedback: Chevron VP Frank Cassulo

Sketch: TBS

On a recent trip to Bangladesh, Frank Cassulo, Vice President of Chevron International E&P, met with Chief Adviser Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus and other senior officials of the interim government. 

Before he flew back to Singapore, Frank sat down with TBS at the Chevron Bangladesh office in Gulshan and discussed Chevron's future plans for Bangladesh against the backdrop of leadership change in the country.

Following is the trimmed and edited version of the interview for clarity.

This visit is not like any other – meeting a new government, talking to new top officials and learning about new plans for Bangladesh. Can you share your take with us?

It is just a pleasure to be here in Bangladesh this week, and really think about where Bangladesh is in terms of the new government and being able to engage with the new government. We had an extraordinary opportunity to meet with Dr Yunus and really listen to his vision for the country and think about how our business, Chevron, intersects with the new interim government's drivers, goals and objectives.

We appreciated the opportunity to meet with Dr Yunus to learn about his priorities for the country, particularly on economic recovery and the work underway to improve the business climate to attract further foreign investment.

It was also an important opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to Bangladesh's energy security. It was a really collaborative, constructive dialogue that we had with him [Dr Yunus] that just left you feeling a sense of optimism, and a sense of pride for us. 

Having been here in Bangladesh for 30 years and having been through ups and downs to see where we are today, and to see what we've come through in a very short period of time, it was amazing. I mean to be there firsthand to share our appreciation for him and the interim government, what he's doing, really meant a lot to us, and our team that was there. 

And then also this week, we met with the BIDA executive chairman, Ashik Chowdhury – incredibly talented. I've watched some of his broadcasts online. I don't know if you've seen it, but he interviews guests [on the show], he talks about his vision for the country. And what we took away is his sense of optimism that we can help move the pace and work together on really critical matters such as energy. So it was really inspiring to hear him talk about it and talk about what BIDA's role will be going forward. So, that was just a fantastic opportunity.

And today [4 December], we got to meet with Dr Fouzul Kabir Khan [current adviser and also a former power secretary]. He gave me a book which I look forward to reading and to hear his support for Chevron.

We've been very fortunate that the old [and] the new leadership in Bangladesh has been open and very receptive to us. We've had opportunities to meet routinely with all the leaders. And even Dr Yunus - Eric Walker [president of Chevron Bangladesh] and I met him in New York. At the United Nations General Assembly, he [Yunus] had an open forum where he brought business leaders in to share their perspectives. The Business Standard covered this.

To be able to see Dr Yunus on the world stage and to be able to be there in New York with him was really also a privilege. What I appreciate is a couple of things: One is they [interim government] listen intently, and [the other is] they value feedback. So we did not only talk about Chevron's vision for how we can commit to Bangladesh, but also wanted to know what are the challenges and how can we help them to overcome them — that was really an important takeaway this week, that there's a sense of collaboration and partnership. And for us that's a really good place to be.  

This government is an interim one, which may continue for a couple of years. Did you meet any other politicians or political parties in Bangladesh who are likely to come to power soon and you have to engage with?

I didn't meet any other stakeholders. On this visit, I was very focused on some of the people of the new government.

For us, we have been here 30 years, so we have a very established presence. Our leaders here work actively with a wide range of stakeholders. For us, it was the opportunity to really introduce ourselves to the new government [and] that was the focus of this trip.

You know, as Chevron, we work with whatever government [is in power across the world]. So this, for us, is a constant. There have been many different leaderships here in Bangladesh over 30 years, and we [have been] very consistent. We look at whoever's in power and work with them constructively. So we'll be mindful that it's an interim government, but for us, it's really important to establish those working relationships. 

We think there is a sense of urgency in terms of investing in energy in Bangladesh. And Chevron sees the opportunity to continue working here. And we have our plants – in terms of what we produce here within Bangladesh, it's vitally important to the economy. 

If you've been to the Bibiyana facility, it's the largest gas facility in Southeast Asia. As the nation's largest producer of natural gas - accounting for over 60% of the country's natural gas demand - we value our essential role in meeting Bangladesh's energy needs and ensuring stable, reliable energy sources. The natural gas we produce here supplies up to 50% of power generation and 100% of the fertilizer industries of Bangladesh.

So for us, safe, reliable operations at Bibiyana is our mission here. But we also have to think of the future. And we do want to be a part of continuing to invest in the future in Bangladesh, continuing to invest in opportunities to develop new resources – and so we shared that we remain committed to Bangladesh with all of the government officials [we met].

You said, Chevron has been here for 30 years. As far as I know, Chevron - in its different avatars -- Occidental, Unocal and then Chevron -- is the oldest energy partner of Bangladesh. In the last 30 years, there must have been both good and bad experiences. How will you evaluate Chevron's experience working in Bangladesh for three decades?

Well, our partnership with the Government of Bangladesh and Petrobangla spans 30 years of supporting the country's energy security and fuelling its economic growth. Any business that we're running, any country that we're working in, we think about the long term. And so to do that, you build, I think, a durable, resilient business that's there to be able to go through and navigate cycles, whether they're up or down. 

Every country, every geography has different cycles - whether the physical environment is stable, unstable, and we're having to work through that anywhere in the world. 

This year we celebrated 100 years of working in Indonesia. Speaking of a 100 year celebration, when I met with the team [in Indonesia], I said, it's a once in a lifetime celebration. But that shows you that when we're here for 30 years, we're thinking about the next 30 years. So for us, you know, our business evolves, countries evolve, geographies evolve, economies evolve, but we evolve with them. So I think we have to be adaptable but we have to be resilient in terms of working around the world.

We think about the long term and we think about how we invest through cycles, and how we assure ourselves that we'll be there to meet the needs of the countries that we serve.

When you are going to make new investments in a country, it signals positive business experiences from before. Chevron has a huge investment in Bangladesh. Can you tell us how much you have put in Bangladesh so far?

We've put $4.1 billion of investment in Bangladesh over the last 30 years. And over $580 million is direct into the economy of local suppliers here, during the period. So, as you mentioned, those investments that we make, we do think about the long term. 

I hope that shows the confidence that Chevron has in Bangladesh in terms of the ability to continue investing, continue working, and continue to provide secure, reliable energy to Bangladesh, which is very, very important.

We had a changeover in leadership in August. Has there been any qualitative change in the investment and business atmosphere in Bangladesh? 

We value our long-standing partnership and appreciate the interim administration's commitment to working through challenges that have influenced our operations and investment outlook.

In a very short period, we had a remarkable improvement in the fiscal environment here in Bangladesh. The fiscal stability continues to improve each and every day. 

I think Bangladesh has welcomed the international community to support Bangladesh. We see the steps that the interim government is taking as very investor-minded. And when we hear that the country is looking for foreign direct investment, they want to invest in the future, they want to invest in the energy sector, that tells us [Chevron] that we want to be here for the long term.

So I think since the change in the government, we've seen conditions improve significantly. And that was confirmed when I had the opportunity to meet with Dr Yunus, and I should [also] say Ashik [BIDA] and Dr Khan [Energy Adviser) – all [have] consistent messages about their vision for Bangladesh. 

So I feel very optimistic about Bangladesh and the economy and how it's improving. 

What is your plan for future exploration and production in Bangladesh?

I think we are assessing all opportunities in Bangladesh. We tend not to comment on the matter because they're very commercial in nature. But we did share with the government that, for us, we need to be back investing in Bangladesh, continuing to look for onshore exploration opportunities and to continue advancing the resources here. It's vitally important to Bangladesh and we see the opportunity to continue investment.

As we discussed with Dr Yunus, we recently undertook some drilling activities in the north of the country. We are confident that through collaboration and open dialogue with the government and Petrobangla, the challenges we have faced can be resolved to unlock new energy opportunities.

I think Bangladesh is going to host a bid for onshore and offshore exploration. What is Chevron's plan?

Obviously, they [Chevron] are going to take part in it. We look at all opportunities, but certainly not commenting on any ongoing evaluations or technical work that we're doing. And we'll make that known at the time that we need to do so, but not before then. 

But I can tell you that we remain committed to supporting Bangladesh's energy security and economic growth through continued partnership and investment.

There's a discussion about Chevron's proposals for exploration in the Surma basin. Do you have any follow-up?

We always look at all the opportunities that we have in Bangladesh. We've been doing it for many years. We probably know Bangladesh better than any international company in the world and we'll continue to look at all these opportunities. But really don't have any comment on a specific opportunity just for commercial reasons.

The bid and all other negotiations are aimed at more energy production. Bangladesh is an energy deficit country. What's your suggestion?

Well, I think that all forms of energy are important – diversifying energy and continuing to attract investment is really important for Bangladesh, especially when it comes to continuing to have the ability to grow their imports of natural LNG and also invest domestically in gas resources. 

I have a point of view that investing in domestic resources drives quite a bit of benefit for Bangladesh. It's foreign direct investment, it's local content. It's continuing to advance the capabilities of Bangladeshi folks. 

Our company here, for example, by investing in onshore development, our company is 97% Bangladeshi. So we've built organisational capability, this business here is built by Bangladesh. It's run by Bangladeshis, and that talent actually is very important to Chevron as an enterprise.
 

How can Chevron help Bangladesh, particularly in developing human resources – not for Chevron but for Bangladesh, like for our national exploration company Bapex?

I think there are a lot of opportunities for us to partner at various levels with companies in Bangladesh. We're focused exclusively on developing our supply chains in Bangladesh and partnering with Bangladesh. Not only in universities or local communities, but also with those key partners. So we have had many joint studies and partnerships over the years. [Additionally] we have training opportunities with many of those partners like Petrobangla.

And I think we have an extraordinarily talented workforce here in Bangladesh for Chevron Bangladesh and our partners – building their capacity and capability is very important to us. Also, we have community programmes.

CA Dr Yunus praised you for your CSR activities and social investment activities. Any more plans for the social sector?

We've invested over $15 million in our social investment projects over the last 14 years, benefitting more than 120,000 people and every year, we have a programme that continues to invest and help. We find the areas in which we think we can have the most impact and we continue to invest in that. 

It was really humbling to hear a Nobel Peace Prize winner recognise us for our social investment. We were able to share the highlights of our social investment with Dr Yunus and to hear his feedback and praise for Chevron. It's very, very remarkable for us.

Thank you for giving us the time.

I really enjoyed meeting you. Every day, every morning in Singapore, I get an email with all the news from Bangladesh. Thank you Zahid and thanks to The Business Standard.