Bangladesh Eyes Malaysian LNG in ISO Tanks Amid Gas Crisis

Bangladesh is considering importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Malaysia in ISO tank containers to meet its growing demand, particularly for industries and power plants. The move aims to diversify the country's LNG sources and minimize supply risks amid ongoing crises in the Middle East.

State Minister Anindya Islam Amit told The Daily Star that the proposed arrangement would allow LNG to be transported from Malaysia in specialized 20- or 40-foot ISO tank containers, which could then be delivered directly to individual industries or power plants. Small-scale regasification units installed at these facilities would enable the gas to be converted into usable form.

The initiative comes as Bangladesh faces an acute gas supply shortage, worsened by the shutdown of an Excelerate Energy-operated Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) at Moheshkhali. The outage has reduced gas supply to the national grid by around 450 million cubic feet per day, further pressuring supplies to industries and power plants.

According to Amit, some industries have already completed their infrastructure but have been waiting for gas connections or struggling to receive adequate supplies through the national grid. Installing small regasification facilities could allow them to receive imported LNG within a relatively short period of two to three months.