Petrobangla is expected to fully utilise the country's maiden liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal from mid-November as the Anwara-Fouzdarhat gas transmission pipeline installation nears completion.
Its wholly-owned subsidiary -- Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) -- successfully completed the horizontal drilling of the Karnaphuli river last week.
Crossing the Karnaphuli was the main hurdle for completing the construction of the 30-kilometre 42-inch diameter pipeline.
"We're expecting to commission the Anwara-Fouzdarhat pipeline and start carrying regasified LNG through it by November 15," GTCL managing director Ali Mohammad Al Mamun on Saturday.
The main hurdle of crossing the Karnaphuli is over, he told the FE. It will facilitate supply of additional LNG to consumers beyond Chattogram region, Mr Mamun said.
Petrobangla has been counting 'capacity payment' for non-completion of a regasified LNG evacuation pipeline since the commissioning of Excelerate Energy's FSRU (floating, storage, regasification unit) on August 18.
It thus failed to fully utilise the terminal.
The state corporation now utilises 65 per cent capacity of the FSRU by regasifying 320 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), a senior Petrobangla official said.
While 35 per cent capacity of the US company's vessel remains unused, Petrobangla would have to pay its full capacity, he added.
According to the deal, the daily payment Petrobangla owes to Excelerate is around $232,000 (Tk 19.72 million), no matter it regasifies less or the entire capacity of the FSRU.
Excelerate's FSRU - Excellence -- has the capacity to regasify around 500 mmcfd equivalent of LNG a day, the official said.
The delay in constructing the pipeline was the main reason for Petrobangla's loss, he added.
Currently, regasified LNG is being supplied to Chattogram only through the newly built 90-kilometre Moheshkhali-Anwara gas transmission pipeline.
The Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd (KGDCL), dedicated to Chattogram region, is able to consume only around 320 mmcfd LNG with the existing pipeline.
When contacted, a senior KGDCL official said the company is currently taking the maximum quantity of its regasified LNG requirement.
It is responsible for supplying piped natural gas to consumers in Chattogram, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Cox's Bazar districts.
Petrobangla inked 'terminal use agreement' and 'implementation agreement' with Excelerate on the LNG terminal project, 'Moheshkhali Floating LNG Terminal,' on July 18, 2016.
The US company has started supplying regasified LNG from its FSRU commercially since August 18.
Until November 03, Petrobangla imported around 700,000 cubic metres of LNG through five regular consignments to regasify in the FSRU.
Petrobangla takes the regasified LNG from the terminal on a take-and-pay basis.
azizjst@yahoo.com