Bangladesh's liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification has reached almost the saturation level to around 1,053 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) with the country's two operational floating-storage and re-gasification units (FSRUs) running at 95.72-per cent capacity.
With the present infrastructure the country has the capacity to re-gasify around 1,100 mmcfd in maximum, provided that both the FSRUs run in full capacity, a senior Petropangla official said.
Currently, the FSRU, owned by US's Excelerate Energy, has the capacity to re-gasify around 600 mmcfd of LNG and Summit Group's FSRU has a capacity of 500 mmcfd.
To utilise both the FSRUs in full swing, Bangladesh will need to import 115 LNG cargoes in a year, said the official.
The state-run Petrobangla is importing a total of 108 LNG cargoes this year (2025), the highest number in a single year.
It has planned to import seven additional LNG cargoes to reach the saturation level for supplying natural gas to gas-starved state-run fertiliser factories.
The state entity has sought upward revision of the natural gas tariff by 150 per cent to Tk 40 per cubic metre from the existing rate of Tk 16 per cubic metre to facilitate import of the additional volume of LNG.
Bangladesh imported a total of 11 LNG cargoes in August, the highest in a single month,
Of them, QatarEnergy provided three LNG cargoes and Oman's OQ Trading International supplied two cargoes, under long term deals.
OQ Trading also supplied one LNG cargo under the newly signed deal to supply LNG in the short term.
Petrobangla procured the remaining five LNG cargoes from the spot market in August.
The country will import a total of 10 LNG cargoes in September, it was learnt.
Under the long-term contract, QatarEnergy will supply four LNG cargoes while OQ Trading will supply one in September.
Besides, OQ Trading will also provide two LNG cargoes under short-term agreements and the remaining three LNG cargoes will be available from spot markets in September.
Bangladesh has been re-gasifying over 1,000 mmcfd of LNG from early June when the government decided to import six additional LNG cargoes to supply an increased volume of natural gas to industries.
At present, the country's overall natural gas output is estimated at 2,835 mmcfd, including 1,053 mmcfd of re-gasified LNG, according to the latest data from Petrobangla.
Natural gas supply to industries increased significantly with the ramping up of overall natural gas output, said official sources
Azizjst@yahoo.com
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