Bangladesh finally hooked up the first-ever LNG cargo with subsea pipeline on Sunday (August 5) on the 103rd day of its reaching the country's south coast of Chattogram on April 24.
"Now we are carrying out the pre-commissioning works before initiating the supply of first re-gasified LNG (liquefied natural gas) to consumers," Petrobangla Chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah said on Tuesday.
The consumers of port-city Chattogram are set to get first re-gasified gas supply from next week, he also said.
Technical issues, rough sea and pipeline construction delay have kept the country's first-ever LNG cargo stranded off the Chattogram coast for more than three months, highlighting the difficulties of launching new LNG demand centers in emerging Asian markets.
"As previous several attempts went in vein, we assigned a special team of drivers from Singapore last week for hooking up the FSRU (floating, storage, re-gasification unit) with the subsea pipeline," said an official of the state-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co Ltd (RPGCL).
They successfully completed the task on Sunday, he added.
RPGCL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state-owned Petrobangla, deals with LNG trade-related issues in Bangladesh.
The US-based Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd's FSRU - Excellence - arrived at the Maheshkhali Island terminal on April 24, carrying 136,000 cubic metre (cu-m) of lean LNG from Qatar.
However, technical difficulties regarding mooring the floating storage and re-gasification unit to the docking facility and connecting it to the subsea pipeline had delayed the delivery of the cargo at least four times before, he added.
Previous attempts had failed because of sea waves with height of two metres and above, noted a project engineer.
Despite logistic and commercial challenges, Bangladesh is set to become a key LNG importer in the coming years, supported by growing consumption, dwindling domestic reserves and a healthy pipeline of LNG import and gas distribution projects.
However, even if the FSRU is successfully moored this week, it would only be able to operate at around half of its capacity of 3.75 million mt/year.
Because, the construction of necessary pipelines is yet to be completed, said the Petrobangla official.
A 30-km pipeline between Anwara and Fouzdarhat seems to be the major hurdle in this regard.
Another 91-km segment of the pipeline between Maheshkhali and Anwara has already been completed and tested, which would facilitate supply of the initially re-gasified LNG to Chattogram, he added.
The current pipeline infrastructure only has the capacity of carrying around 250 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), half of the LNG project's re-gasification capacity, said a senior official of the state-owned Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd. It supplies gas to the key consuming region of Chattogram.
Petrobangla signed 'terminal use agreement' and 'implementation agreement' with the US firm on the LNG terminal project - Maheshkhali 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 at Maheshkhali Island, near the port of Chattogram, has a capacity of 3.75 million mt/year.
