Bangladesh Approves Construction of FSRU at Moheshkhali

Bangladesh government on Wednesday approved construction of floating LNG terminal at Moheshkhali in Chittagong area, reported United News of Bangladesh (UNB).

The cabinet gave a green light to Petrobangla to ink agreement with Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Limited (EEBL), as subsidiary of Excelerate Energy, for setting up the terminal with next 18 months.

Bangladesh has been working for a long time on build a floating unit in order to facilitate LNG imports. The South Asian economy is facing severe shortage of gas.  Currently, Bangladesh is producing about 2,700 mmcfd gas against demand for 3,200 mmcfd.

The FARU will have a 138,000 cubic metres capacity and will supply 500 million cubic feet (mmcf) gas per day by regasification of imported LNG to the national gas network, UNB said.

Bangladesh will have to pay a total of $ 90 million as terminal charges excluding tax, VAT and insurance fee to the LNG terminal operator to use its facilities. The government will spend about of $1.56 billion annually to import 182.5 billion cubic feet of LNG from abroad gas at an estimated cost of $8 per MMBTU gas. This means, Bangladesh has to spend about $2.5 billion annually to supply 500 mmcfd imported gas, according the officials.