Bangladesh rejects gas export plan

Bangladesh has turned down a proposal from an American gas exploration company to export gas to India by pipeline.

Officials say gas exports will only be permitted once Bangladesh has ensured it has enough for fifty years' domestic supply.

The company, Unocal, says the domestic market is too small to consume the huge quantity of natural gas it will produce, and Bangladesh doesn't have the funds to buy the gas anyway.

The government says it won't consider any such requests until it sees the results of a geological survey which it's carrying out jointly with American experts.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service