Another LNG Cargo Arriving Today at Maheshkhali Terminal

• Gas Supply Increasing

Rafiqul Islam Selim

Gas supply from Maheshkhali’s floating LNG terminals has increased further. Yesterday, Sunday afternoon, 740 million cubic feet of gas was being added to the national grid from the two terminals there. Petrobangla officials said that supply will be increased further once another LNG carrying cargo arrives today, Monday.

An LNG carrying vessel from South Korea’s POSCO International Corporation is scheduled to dock at the Excelerate Energy terminal by this afternoon. If it docks on schedule, supply from that terminal will also be increased. This will be the fourth cargo of the current month, with five more vessels scheduled to arrive within the month. Yesterday, supply from the two terminals was increased by 30 million cubic feet to reach 740 million cubic feet.

As LNG reserves at the Excelerate terminal had declined, gas supply from there had been reduced to 140 million cubic feet, but yesterday it was increased to 180 million cubic feet. Meanwhile, Summit’s supply was slightly reduced to 560 million cubic feet, even though this terminal’s capacity is 550 million cubic feet. The previous day, this terminal had supplied 570 million cubic feet, 20 million cubic feet above capacity. The combined supply capacity of the two terminals is 1,100 million cubic feet, and officials say supply will soon be brought close to full capacity.

As gas supply from the Maheshkhali terminal has increased, overall gas supply to the national grid has risen. Last night, the supply volume stood at 2,360 million cubic feet. Concerned officials said that once the next LNG cargo arrives today, production at the terminal owned by the US company Excelerate Energy will also be increased, after which the gas crisis will be fully resolved.

An official of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL), responsible for LNG imports on behalf of Petrobangla, said several more cargoes are arriving within the next few days. One cargo is confirmed to arrive on September 16 and another on September 19, with three more cargoes scheduled for the 23rd, 25th and 28th of this month. Accordingly, nine cargoes will arrive this month, and the schedule for several cargoes arriving next month has also been announced. Once these cargoes arrive, the gas crisis will be fully resolved.

The government’s official estimate of national gas demand is 3,800 million cubic feet. Under normal circumstances, gas supply of 2,500 to 2,600 million cubic feet is available. However, gas supply fell in late July following a fire at one terminal and uncertainty over timely LNG procurement. Since supply began increasing again from August 22, it remained 300 million cubic feet below normal levels. Supply has been gradually increasing over the past two days, and Petrobangla officials hope to normalize supply within this week.

Due to the gas crisis, most gas fired power plants had to be shut down, worsening the electricity shortage. Production at gas dependent industrial factories has also been disrupted. Industry owners are calling for gas supply to be given to factories on a priority basis once supply increases, while the PDB is urging that gas supply to power plants be increased. Four gas fired power plants in Chattogram remain shut down, and with gas supply limited to these four, their electricity generation has fallen by half.