LNG supply begins June 12

FT ONLINE

The government has now set a target to start supplying regasified LNG (liquefied natural gas) to consumers from June 12, a senior official said.

The LNG is being supplied one and a half months after its import from Middle-Eastern energy hub Qatar.

"We hope everything will be in place by the time to supply the long-awaited regasified LNG to clients," the energy ministry official said to media recently.

But the necessary pipeline is unlikely to be ready to evacuate the full regasified LNG supply capacity of the FSRU (floating, storage and regasification unit) from day one.

It will be possible to evacuate only 60 per cent capacity of the FSRU for the gas-hungry Chattogram clients, the official added.

The delay in the laying of pipeline along with tie-up and 'synchronisation' complexities has stalled the supply of LNG to clients over the past one month.

The first LNG consignment from Qatar's RasGas Company Ltd reached Bangladesh on April 24.

The US-based Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd (EEBL) brought in its FSRU, Excellence, after loading 136,009 cubic metres of lean LNG from RasGas.

But it has been alleged that Excelerate is yet to complete synchronising the FSRU with the pipeline.

The official said the synchronisation and tie-up job is underway. Pipeline installation is also in progress.

The construction of a 30-kilometre and 42-inch diameter Anwara-Fouzdarhat gas transmission line now seems to be a major hurdle to supply LNG beyond Chattogram.

Officials said the state-run Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd (KGDCL), the distributor for Chattogram region, will be able to consume only around 300 mmcfd with the existing pipeline.

The KGDCL is responsible for supplying piped natural gas to Chattogram, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Cox's Bazar districts.

Petrobangla signed both 'terminal use' and 'implementation' deals with Excelerate on the project, titled 'Moheshkhali Floating LNG Terminal' on July 18, 2016.

Excelerate built the regasification unit on the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.

It would charge $0.49 per mcf (1,000 cubic feet) against its service from day one.

Petrobangla will buy the regasified LNG from the terminal on the take-or-pay basis, said the official.

The local Summit group is building the country's second regasification unit at the same location-Moheshkhali island-in the Bay of Bengal.