The government has prepared the draft of a general master sales agreement (MSA), covering a dozen of global companies, on the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market.
The state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) has already sent copies of the MSA draft to the short-listed suppliers for inking deals, individually, said a senior RPGCL official.
The official did not disclose the quantity of LNG, to be imported from the spot market through these firms.
In spot market a commodity is bought or sold for immediate delivery or delivery in the very near future. Spot market for LNG has developed recently with the gluts of the fuel output alongside the growth of emerging markets for it.
The RPGCL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Petrobangla, earlier selected 30 global firms from the USA, the UK, France, Qatar, Australia, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Bermuda to purchase LNG on spot basis following a competitive tender.
The selected global firms would provide LNG to the country's LNG-receiving terminals from the spot market after getting orders from state-run Petrobangla from time to time, said the RPGCL official.
The RPGCL would initially make proposals to the selected firms specifying the quantity of spot LNG for supplying to the LNG terminals.
It would seek to purchase LNG from the selected firms under the MSA, to be inked with each of them, said the RPGCL official.
The imported spot LNG should have a gross heating value ranging 1,025-1,100 BTU per standard cubic feet (scf).
The imported LNG will be blended with locally-produced natural gas, which is sulfur-free and sweet gas, before it is delivered to end-users. The imported LNG's sulfur content could be low as a result.
The selected firms would have to supply LNG on a delivered ex-ship basis, and the vessel size should range between 125,000 and 220,000 cubic metre (cu-m).
The RPGCL will procure spot LNG, based on market prices, terminal availability, increased re-gasification capacity and downstream demand.
Bangladesh has decided to purchase LNG from diverse sources, which include both term and spot suppliers, located in different countries across the globe to ensure its availability during requirement.
The country's total LNG import quantity in pipeline under term-deal has already reached around 5.75 million tonnes, including the SPA with Qatar's RasGas to import 2.5 million tonnes of LNG.
US-based Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd (EEBL) has already brought in its floating, storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) -- Excellence -- after loading 136,009 cubic metres of lean LNG from Qatar's RasGas on April 24.
Commercial supply of re-gasified LNG, however, has not yet started.
Azizjst@yahoo.com