Bangladesh signed another memorandum of understanding (MoU) Tuesday to diversify the import sources of LNG for making sure the availability of gas and its uninterrupted supply to the consumers.
The agreement between state-run Petrobangla and Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd was signed at Petrocentre in the city, in presence of State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid.
Gunvor's Head of LNG, Asia, Luc Speeleved and Petrobangla's secretary Ashfaquzzaman inked the MoU -- the fifth one for importing the LNG (liquefied natural gas) from different sources.
The government has moved to import the energy to ensure uninterrupted supply of natural gas as its price became competitive in the global market, the junior minister told the signing ceremony.
The government has planned to start importing LNG in 2018 and was making efforts to find the supply sources and develop necessary import infrastructure.
The first-ever MOU to import LNG was signed with Qatar in 2011, followed by Switzerland-based AOT Energy on June 13, 2017, Oman in early September and Indonesia on September 15.
"We like to diversify LNG sources to ensure its availability so that the country does not face any unforeseen crisis," Petrobangla chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah said.
Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd, a Swiss firm, has planned to supply LNG to Bangladesh from different sources, said Luc.
Petrobangla is expected to seal Bangladesh's first-ever final deal to import LNG with Qatar next week.
The deal is for importing 2.5 million tonnes of lean LNG per year from Qatar's RasGas over next 15 years.
Separately, Bangladesh is seeking to import spot LNG from the suppliers taking advantage of the downtrend in LNG price in the global market.
The country's first LNG import terminal, having a capacity of 3.75 million tonnes per year FSRU (floating, storage, re-gasification unit) being developed by US-based Excelerate Energy, is expected to be commissioned in April 2018, followed by the second one with similar capacity, being developed by Summit Group, by end-2018.
Both the FSRUs will be located at Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal, and ownership of the vessels will be transferred to Petrobangla after 15 years of operations.
Petrobangla is also planning to set up at least two onshore LNG terminals, each with a capacity of 7.5 million tonnes per year, by 2025.
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