DHAKA -- Bangladesh is ending a yearslong hiatus on oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal as it scrambles to plug dwindling energy reserves that could run out in under a decade. On Sunday, the South Asian nation opened bidding to dozens of international companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and China's Sinopec, on 24 offshore blocks spread across 15 deep and nine shallow waters.