Bangladesh Inks Deal to Import Qatari LNG

Bangladesh's state-run Petrobangla has signed a 'confidentiality' deal with Qatar's RasGas in Doha last week to facilitate import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a Financial Express Bangladesh report stated Thursday.

"We have inked the deal and held talks initially over pricing mechanism of LNG, required quantity, timing of import etc," Petrobangla Chairman Istiaque Ahmad told the newspaper Wednesday.

This would be a first such deal for the South Asian nation.

Dhaka signed LNG import MoU on January 16, 2011 with Doha for two years, which was extended for another two years till January 16, 2015. The MoU was further extended and will now expire in May 2016.

Bangladesh, which is facing sever energy shortage, is currently working to build two separate LNG terminals on Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal -- of which one will be land-based and another offshore, Financial Express Bangladesh reported.