[Premium] Bangladesh Prepares to Issue Terminals Contracts
Bangladesh is preparing to award the construction contracts for at least two onshore LNG import terminals, each with the capacity of 7.5mn metric tons/year, managing director of state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) Md Quamruzzaman told NGW July 22.
Bangladesh received initial expressions of interest (EOI) on July 12 from ten global firms from Japan, USA, South Korea, and China, in response to its tender for build, own, operate and transfer contracts for the land-based terminals. Petrobangla has started feasibility studies to select suitable locations for the land-based LNG import terminals.
The firms that submitted EOIs are: Jera, Osaka Gas, Mitsui & Co and Itochu Corporation while companies acting in consortia included Kyushu Electric and Marubeni Corporation of Japan; Korean SK E&S, Kogas and Posco Daewoo; Chinese Yantai Jereh Petroleum Equipment & Technologies and China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation; and US Black & Veatch and Fluor Daniel Eastern.
Quamruzzaman also said the country also plans to build three small floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) with capacity for around 150mn-200mn ft³/d of imported LNG to meet the country's mounting natural gas demand. These are in addition to the two 3.75mn mt/year FSRUs being built at Moheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal, he said.
The small FSRUs are planned to be built adjacent to an already built platform and jetties in the Bay of Bengal and in the river Karnaphuli to facilitate anchorage of small LNG tankers.
One of the small FSRUs will be built at the Sangu platform In the Bay of Bengal, said the official. Until it stopped operations in October 2013, that was operated by Australia's Santos and used to supply the country with gas.
The remaining two FSRUs would be built adjacent to the jetties of state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Company and multi-nationals owned joint venture Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company, he said. "We want the small FSRUs to starts work by August 2018," a senior official under the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources said.
Separately, Petrobangla signed an MOU with India's Petronet in December to build a 7.5mn mt/y capacity land based LNG import terminal on Kutubdia Island in the Bay of Bengal.
In May, state-owned Power Cell short-listed four international firms – Japan's Mitsui, China's consortium of China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation & Yifeng Industrial Gas, India's Petronet and Anglo-Dutch major Shell – to build LNG import termianal, director general of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain told NGW. Bangladesh eyes starting LNG imports in early 2018 and is making concerted efforts to move forward with LNG import infrastructure.
The country's first LNG import terminal, a 3.75mn mt/year FSRU being developed by US-based Excelerate Energy, is expected to be commissioned in April 2018. Bangladesh inked an initial agreement on July 13 with Qatar’s RasGas to import 2.5mn mt/year lean LNG for 15 years, the price linked to crude oil. CargoTex subsidiary MacGregor was awarded a contract for the work on that project July 20.
M Azizur Rahman