Bangladesh's Plan for First LNG Terminal Suffers Setback

Bangladesh’s plan to set its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal  suffered a setback when none of the short-listed firms turned up and submitted bid on close of bid submission deadline Monday.

The submission deadline has already been extended twice earlier, Financial Express Bangladesh reported.

The initial deadline was January 31, 2012, which was extended to April 15, 2012 and in the latest it was extended further by 15 days to April 30, 2012.

Petrobangla had short-listed four firms -- Bermuda-based Golar LNG Energy, a joint venture of US' Astra Oil and Excelerate Energy, South Korea's Samsung C&T Corporation and India's Hiranandani Electricity -- from 10 international firms that submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) last year.

As per government plans, the terminal was supposed to have the capacity to handle 5.0 million tonnes of LNG per annum and re-gasification capacity of at least 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas. The project was expected to finish by 2013.