The Indian energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has evinced interest in exploring gas for Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal, to help the country utilise its vast untapped off-shore potential.

"We are in favour of taking part in exploration, but only after demarcation of the area owned by the country's share in the sea," ONGC official V Guha said at a workshop on deep water exploration, in Dhaka on Monday.

Speaking at the workshop, Bangladesh Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources K Mosharaf Hossain invited the international oil companies to explore potential oil and gas fields both in onshore and off shore areas, as the country "lacked expertise, money and cost effectiveness."

The Indian offer comes at a time when two big International Oil Companies (IOCs) -- Dutch giant Shell and Chevron Texaco of the United States -- are on the verge of quitting the country allegedly for lack of market of their discovered products, official BSS news agency said.

"Neither Bapex and Petrobangla (the two state-owned exploration agencies) has the capacity to carry out the exploration in deep sea. But I think avenues are open for the IOCs to deep sea gas exploration under the existing production sharing contacts," the minister said.

Referring to the decision of Shell and Chevron, Hossain said, "The departure of only two foreign companies doesn't mean that all will leave and new ones won't come."

A number of foreign companies are operating in Bangladesh under production sharing contracts, the minister said.