Govt approves LNG purchases from Singapore, Qatar

The approvals were given at separate meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, on Saturday, October 24. The Ministry of Finance disclosed the decisions on Sunday.

At the government purchase committee meeting, the government approved the direct purchase of five LNG cargoes from BP Singapore. The agreed price is $0.17 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) below the Japan-Korea Marker (JKM), a benchmark for spot LNG prices in Asia.

The agreement also allows the government to purchase additional cargoes, if necessary, subject to mutual consent between the two parties.

The procurement will be carried out under Section 68 of the Public Procurement Act 2006 and Rule 99(2) of the Public Procurement Rules 2025.

In a separate decision, the committee approved the purchase of an additional LNG cargo from QatarEnergy Trading under a government-to-government arrangement and an existing long-term contract.

Scheduled for delivery on December 20, the cargo will be priced at $0.10 per MMBtu below the JKM benchmark.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs considered a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to purchase LNG from JERA Global Markets Pte Ltd of Japan through the direct procurement method.

The proposal invokes Section 68 of the Public Procurement Act 2006 and Rule 99(2) of the Public Procurement Rules 2025.

The committee also granted in-principle approval to the proposed short-term LNG sale and purchase agreement between Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) and JERA Global Markets, along with the prescribed standard terms and conditions.

The government has not disclosed the total volume or value of the proposed JERA purchase in the information released on Sunday.

The latest decisions indicate Bangladesh’s continued reliance on a mix of long-term contractual supplies and market-linked LNG procurement to meet its natural gas requirements.