DHAKA, Oct 19, 2017 (BSS) - The government has launched a process to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Oman, Indonesia and Malaysia to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) on government to government arrangements in view of its rapidly growing demand, officials said here today.
"The process is underway to sign the MoUs against the energy sector's growing demands," an official familiar with the process told BSS after a meeting with Prime Minister's energy advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury in the chair at the PMO discussed elaborately on LNG import and finance along with other related issues.
He said under the proposed deals 60 LNG-laden cargo vessels would carry the fuel to Bangladesh annually.
The initiatives to sign the MoUs were launched while the government last month signed a 15-year deal with Qatar for LNG import from next year.
"We will be able to import LNG from Qatar cheap price and easy condition and the Qatar government could also consider financing for the import," the official quoted State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid as telling the meeting.
He said the LNG would initially be imported from Qatar's state run RasGas, which would be supplied to the national grid through the Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) at Moheshkhali.
Additional secretary of power division told the meeting that the country would require 3,000-mmcfd gas by 2041 against the existing daily demand of 3,400 mmcfd and availability of 2,700 and so "it is necessary to specify how much gas would come through government imports.
On September 25, 2017, Bangladesh signed a long-term "LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement with Qatar's RasGas" to import up to 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually to meet the country's growing energy demand.
The meeting also instructed to form two committees on finance and the LNG price and suggested to submit separate report within one month.
