CHATTOGRAM Jan 24: The govrnment has planned to set up three more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in addition to the existing two currently being operated to regasify imported gas. Besides, the existing two floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) will also be extended to 630mmcft from 500mmcft per day.
The proposed three new LNG terminals will be set up in Payra, Moheshkhali and Matarbari whose total regasification capacity would be 2,000mmcft per day including two floating and another land based, Md Kamruzzaman Khan, Petrobangla Director of Operation told the Daily Observer.
"First of these are two floating storage and regasification units (FSRU), one of Summit Group and another of Excelerate Energy are expected to go into operation in 2026 and 2028 respectively," he said.
He said, two floating terminals with 500mmcft capacity of Excelerate Energy will be set up at Payra and the Summit Groups at Moheshkhali while the land based terminal with the production capacity of 1,000 mmcft will be set up at Matarbari.
Meanwhile, the government approved a proposal in principle for awarding Summit Oil and Shipping Company Ltd the work of setting up the 3rd floating LNG terminal at Moheshkhali in Coxs Bazar. The floating LNG terminal would have a capacity of dealing with 600mmcft LNG per day.
The approval came from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on June 14 in 2023.
Presently two floating LNG terminals have been in operation since 2018, of which one was set up by Excelerate Energy of USA at Moheshkhali of Coxs Bazar with 500mmcft per day while another with the same capacity was set up by the Summit Group in the same area.
With the operation of three terminals including the extension of the existing terminals, the LNG production of the country will rise to 3,200 mmcft per day.
Current demand of gas in the country is 4,000mmcft per day. But Petrobangla can supply only 3,000 mmcft per day, Petrobangla sources said.
In future the demand of the country will increase further. So, there is no alternative to boosting up production of gas in the country.
Recently, Chattogram, the countrys main industrial and port city, experienced a complete gas shutdown for two days on January 19 and 20 last due to technical glitch in the existing two FSRUs in Moheshkhali.
Gas supply to Chattograms homes, factories and power stations was completely cut off for those days due to a technical issue at an LNG terminal during the commissioning process. One of the two FSRUs that belong to Excelerate Energy left for Singapore for a 45-day maintenance schedule suspending supply of gas to the national gas grid earlier. It returned after maintenance on January 18. Both the Excelerate Energy FSRU and Summit FSRU experienced technical faults halting total gas supply to the national gas network, leading to a severe gas crisis in Chattagram and elsewhere. Residents faced great difficulty as gas was cut off without notice. All CNG refuelling stations, three fertiliser factories, and power plants in the area were closed to conserve gas.
The gas crisis in Chattogram started in November, and since then, production has been consistently disrupted.
The ongoing gas crisis has led to disruptions in production, and entrepreneurs are struggling to operate at 50 per cent of their capacity.
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