Bangladesh is going through a massive transformation. We have already attained middle-income status after 45 years of independence & GDP per capita has doubled in the last 15 years. Our growth engine continues to accelerate & Local industries have largely been resilient to the financial downturns of the last decade. Our industrialists have become major exporters of apparel, leather, and seafood by global standards. Given the busy schedules of residing in a growing economy, we tend to overlook the sheer transformation of Bangladesh in front our eyes. Roads, highways, railways, city transits, high-tech industries, deep sea ports, housing projects, economic zones, LNG terminals etc. all projects are headed in full swing under the sound guidance and vision of Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. To pause & think, these are only few of our development activities. New Townships are springing up everywhere, businesses are investing at large and people across rural & urban areas are spending to upgrade their lifestyles like never before. Our nation is poised to become one of the major Industrial & Commercial Hubs of South Asia and our160 million residents are tackling all kinds of challenges head on.
To achieve the Grand Vision of 2021, the nation needs to generate additional 9,000 MW of electricity to feed its burgeoning population, industrial/economic zones & power plants. Are we ready to supply the right fuels to support this growth over the next four years?
Bangladesh has had a generous reserve of natural gas and we have been able to flourish due to its abundance. However, like all fossil fuels, the reserves are depleting. The government and experts estimate that current recoverable natural gas reserves will run out in 16 years. This of course, will exhaust much faster given the growth of new gas fueled small and medium sized industries. The gas shortage was approx. 800 MMCFD in Dec 2016 (22% of daily demand) and the gap will widen going forward.
To mitigate this natural gas shortage, the Government is setting up alternative fuel based power plants& encouraging the use of LPG. The Ministry of Science & Technology is spearheading the Rooppur Nuclear power plant of 1200X2 MW power generation capacity & EMRD is encouraging the private sector to set up Coal Import Terminals and Coal Fired Power Plants across the country. Moreover, the first gas supply of 500 MMCFD from Imported LNG is scheduled to enter our pipelines by late 2018 and also the private sector has come forward to mitigate the gas crisis. The leading company in local power generation, Summit Group, has signed agreement with Petro Bangla to set up another LNG Terminal with supply capacity of 500 MMCFD. Such sophisticated project being taken up by Local Industrialists gives us encouragement and confidence that next generation business leaders are confidently gearing up to tackle our energy challenges.
Given the above, by 2020 we will have 1000 MMCFD LNG Based Gas in our system, however the national gas demand will grow two fold in the next 4 years and we will still be reeling from a severe gas crisis. Bangladesh is poised to become an imported fuel based economy & imported fuels such as LNG will be much expensive compared to local natural gas. Hence it is only rationale that the LNG based gas will be diverted to crucial sectors that keep the nation’s growth engine running (e.g. Power Generation, Key Industries & Fertilizer Sector) &non-productive sectors to be fueled by LPG (e.g. Automotive Sectors, Residential Zones & Small/ Medium Sized Industries).
The annual LPG demand currently stands at 500,000 MT and it is poised to grow to 1,000,000 MT by 2020, as non-productive sectors such as households and automobile users are already migrating to the environmentally friendly fuel for to its easy availability & convenience. The top three LPG Operators are Bashundhara Group, Jamuna Spacetech Joint Venture Limited& Omera Petroleum Limited. Among the top three, Omera Petroleum Limited is a subsidiary of MJL Bangladesh Limited & owned by East Coast Group.
Currently, Omera has the largest and most sophisticated LPG Supply Infrastructure in Bangladesh. The Company operates four LPG bottling terminals across the country & can supply 26,000 LPG Cylinders in a single shift. Omera’s Annual LPG Supply Capacity currently stands at 100,000 MT and the company moves LPG in bulk using riverine routes in self propelled LPG Barges. Its team meets the highest standards of Compliance & Safety, top down through all stages of operation and across all functions.
Under the Sound Leadership and Strategic Vision of Azam J Chowdhury, the Pioneer & Leader of Bangladesh Oil and Gas Industry, Omera has achieved significant results within just two years of operation. The company has supplied over 80,000 MT of LPG and injected 1.6 Million LPG Cylinders into the retail market in just 21 Months. In its second year of operation, Omera Petroleum Limited joined hands with Japanese LPG giant Saisan Co. Ltd. to set up the Omera Gas One, the first Bangladesh- Japan Joint Venture in the National Energy Sector.
Omera Gas One is specialized to supply Industrial LPG Solutions, LPG Storage Tanks, LPG Autogas Stations & Reticulated Systems customized to Japanese Standards, the most stringent & sophisticated LPG Industry in the world.Moreover, Omera has also signed agreement with Government of Bangladesh to set up dedicated Import Terminal for supply of bulk LPG and fuels to its Economic Zones. The Specialized terminal is due to be completed in 2019.
As the national annual LPG demand is expected to surpass the million mark in the next four years, Omera is scaling up its LPG import, storage and bottling capacity across all its plants. It is investing in storage capacity, new terminals and adding more barges to its marine fleet. To benefit the local users by bringing down the cost of importing LPG, East Coast Group and Omera are jointly in investing in LPG trading desks & developing international LPG shipping chains.
Besides investing in its own system, Omera Management has been actively engaging with relevant authorities to Develop Policies that will benefit Local Energy Consumers and Industries at large. Its management was also the key driver to set up the LIAB – LPG Industries Association of Bangladesh. For the first time in Bangladesh, corporate entities engaged in the LPG business & meeting all required permissions from all relevant authorities have come under one umbrella.
Moreover, Omera Cylinders Limited is the most sophisticated LPG Cylinder manufacturing plant in Bangladesh. Equipped with European Machinery and the Highest Testing Standards, the company can supply over a thousand Gas Cylinders each day conforming to DOT 4BAspecifications
In recognition of the company’s immense contribution to the Nation's Energy Diversity, Omera Petroleum Limited (OPL) was awarded as the Best Private Company in National Energy Sector by Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Hon'ble Prime Minister of the people's Republic of Bangladesh in December 2016.
Groomed with the heritage and excellence of East Coast Group’s three decades in Petroleum Industry& ripe with a young team that embraces all challenges and dares to think beyond conventional boundaries, Omera is set to become the Leader in the Regional Energy Industry within the next decade. The team is relentlessly working to add energy infrastructure & to diversify into newer fuels that will serve the Nation that has helped the company to grow to massive heights in a short period of time.
(The above article strictly represents the writer’s personal views & opinions)
TanzeemChowdhury;
Director, East Coast Group
AGM Corporate Planning & Business Development,
Omera Petroleum Limited
