The state-run Petrobangla will start importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar regularly on September 9, officials concerned said.
It is going to begin the regular import following successful feeding of the regasified LNG to the consumers of Chattogram since August 18.
Qatar's RasGas will supply LNG to Bangladesh's first LNG import facility in the Bay of Bengal off Moheshkhali Island, Petrobangla chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah told the FE on Wednesday.
This would be the first vessel to ship the liquefied gas in Bangladesh on a delivery ex-ship basis.
This means the price will include transportation cost and the Petrobangla will receive LNG at its terminal -- an FSRU (floating, storage and regasification unit) built by the US-based Excelerate Energy.
Mr Faizullah said Qatari cargo would carry 138,000 cubic metres of LNG in each consignment.
Bangladesh will initially receive three such cargoes every month, he disclosed.
The gas-guzzling consumers of Chattogram currently use around 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of LNG.
The Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd (EEBL) brought in its FSRU, Excellence, after loading 136,009 cubic metres of lean LNG from RasGas on April 24. It was due to start delivering the LNG from May 7.
However, technical issues and rough sea during the June-August monsoon kept it stranded off the south coast of Chattogram for more than three months.
Excelerate linked the FSRU to the subsea pipeline network on August 5 and commenced injecting gas on August 12.
Petrobangla has a binding sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with RasGas to buy around 2.5 Mtpa (million tonne per annum) of lean LNG over the next 15 years.
It has a similar SPA to import around 1.0 Mtpa of LNG from Oman Trading International (OTI) for 10 years.
Petrobangla also initiated a deal with Swiss firm AOT Energy AG to import 1.25 Mtpa of lean LNG for 15 years.
It further inked a letter of intent agreement with Indonesia's Petramina to import 1.0 Mtpa for 10 years.
Bangladesh also shortlisted more than 24 suppliers to buy LNG on a spot basis, said Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) managing director Md Quamruzzaman.
"We'll set a mechanism to import LNG from almost all the term-deal suppliers and some spot suppliers considering our requirements," he added.
The RPGCL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Petrobangla, is in charge of monitoring LNG imports and its facilitations in Bangladesh.
About the mechanism to foot LNG import bills, Mr Faizullah said a proposal to raise domestic gas prices is pending with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission.
He hoped it would increase gas tariffs to pave the way for LNG payments. "Otherwise, the government would be required to provide funds."
The current gas reserves of around 12 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in Bangladesh are depleting fast.
According to a report, Bangladesh will need imports of 30 Mtpa of LNG to meet the growing demand from sectors like industries, power plants and fertiliser plants by 2041.
Copenhagen-based research firm Ramboll in association with Geological Survey of Denmark and EQMS Consulting Limited prepared the report.
Domestic gas production peaked at 2,700 mmcfd in 2017, but it has started to decline now, revealed the report.
The current reserves will run dry completely by 2038 if no new discovery takes place, it forecast.
Ramboll officially handed over the report to the Petrobangla in August 2017.
It suggested rigorous exploration drive onshore and offshore, which it said, could raise gas supply by 1,400 mmcfd from about 5.0 Tcf of new reserves.
The country's overall natural gas production is hovering around 2,750 mmcfd against the demand for 3,996 mmcfd, according to the Petrobangla.
