Tender for LNG terminal likely by June next

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M Azizur Rahman
The government will float tender by June this year for a US$1.0 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to ease the gas crisis and meet country's long-term energy needs, officials said Saturday
"We are hoping to invite international bids for building the country's first ever LNG terminal by mid 2010 and implement the project within the shortest possible time," Prime Minister's energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury told the FE Saturday.
He said the government is simultaneously weighing up scopes to import LNG on urgent basis to supply gas to the gas-starved industries and power plants via special tankers known as floating, storage, re-gasification units or FSRUs.
"We will talk with the interested firms for building the terminal and import LNG on an urgent basis via FSRUs during two overseas roadshows slated for January 25 in Singapore and January 28-29 in New York," said Mr Chowdhury.
Energy ministry officials said the state-owned Petrobangla recently discussed the issue of immediate import of LNG with several foreign firms.
"But the outcome of the discussions are not encouraging as the draft in the planned site was found shallower for tankers having FSRUs," Petrobangla chairman Dr Hossain Monsur said.
Initially, Petrobangla had planned to utilise Cairn Energy's existing platform and pipeline network at its Sangu field, some 50 kilometers off the shore, in the Bay of Bengal to bring the re-gasified LNG onshore.
"But the draft around Sangu platform was found to be only 7-8 meters, which seems inadequate to bring in the specialised tankers," he said.
The team of the country's newly established LNG cell also collected basic information like draft, location of several new sites offshore which include, Kutubdia Island, Moheshkhali, Akram Point for building the LNG import terminal and bringing in specialised tankers having FSRUs on urgent basis.
"We will share this information on different prospective sites with the interested firms during the Singapore and New York roadshows to ensure LNG use as soon as possible," said the Petrobangla chairman.
Tender would be floated shortly to bring in LNG on urgent basis if we could find a suitable site, he added.
He said the bid winner would be selected for supplying LNG via specialised tankers having FSRUs.
The FSRUs might be in use until the cheaper LNG import terminal facility comes online, he added.
The country has planned that the gas would first be supplied to the port city of Chittagong where the natural gas supply shortfall is most acute.
"We are currently able to supply 170 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas to Chittagong against the demand for 300 mmcfd," said Mr Monsur.
Sangu, which was once the lifeline for Chittagong, is now supplying only around 35 mmcfd of gas, down from 220 mmcfd several years ago leading to severe gas crisis in the port city."