Consumers of Chattogram have started consuming the much expected re-gasified imported LNG from Saturday as the fuel entered into the city's pipeline network after necessary testing, said officials.
Some 80-100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of re-gasified LNG (liquefied natural gas) will be supplied initially to the port city from where the quantity will increase gradually to around 300 mmcfd by early October, said a senior official of state-run Petrobangla.
The re-gasified LNG was pumped into the Chattogram pipeline network at around 2:30 pm, he said.
Existing and fresh consumers in Chattogram will be the first beneficiary of the new gas, said a senior official of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd (KGDCL).
He hoped that long-lasting gas crisis of the port city would ease with the injection of re-gasified LNG.
The government has not fixed any price of new gas for the consumers yet.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), however, is currently scrutinising gas tariff hike proposals of the state-run gas companies after holding public hearings.
Officials said the re-gasified LNG has reached the port city through the newly-completed Moheshkhali-Anwara pipeline.
US-based Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd (EEBL) initiated re-gasification of the imported LNG from August 12 and subsequently started injecting it to the pipeline network with low pressure.
Excelerate Energy successfully moored its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to its docking facility at the Moheshkhali Island terminal in the Bay of Bengal on August 05 and initiated pre-commissioning work subsequently.
The vessel Excellence, carrying 136,000 cubic metre of lean LNG from Qatar, arrived at the terminal on April 24 and was due to start injecting gas into the pipeline network for consumption in Chattogram from May 07.
But technical issues and rough seas had kept the vessel stranded off the south coast of Chittagong for more than three months.
Petrobangla signed 'terminal use agreement' and 'implementation agreement' with
the US firm on the LNG terminal project - Moheshkhali Floating LNG Terminal - in July 2017.
Excelerate built the re-gasification unit on build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis, he also said.
It will charge US$ 0.49 per Mcf (1,000 cubic feet) against its service from the day one. Petrobangla will buy re-gasified LNG from the terminal on the take-or-pay basis, as per the contract.
The FSRU, which has been moored on the Moheshkhali Island, near the port of Chattogram, has a capacity of 3.75 million tonnes per year.
