Bangladesh Gas Crisis Deepens as Moheshkhali Outage Compounds Qatari LNG Shortfall
A severe gas crisis is unfolding in Bangladesh as the country's two main LNG terminals at Moheshkhali operate at significantly reduced capacity. The Excelerate Energy-operated terminal has been functioning at around 37% of its nameplate regasification capacity, while the Summit LNG terminal is also impaired due to a boiler under maintenance and bad weather preventing an LNG carrier from docking.
The current shortfall has caused a significant disruption in gas supply to the industrial hub of Chattogram, with demand outstripping supply by around 40%. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that Bangladesh relies heavily on contracted LNG deliveries from Qatar, which have been halved due to force majeure declared by QatarEnergy following the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The loss of Qatari volumes is expected to continue for three to five years, with QatarEnergy notifying Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) that it may deliver only 50% of scheduled 2026 cargoes. The government has approved a third FSRU at Moheshkhali to be supplied by China National Energy Engineering & Construction Company in an effort to mitigate the crisis.
The financial consequences have been severe, with Petrobangla's LNG subsidy requirement for fiscal year 2025-26 rising to around Tk 16,600 crore against an original allocation of Tk 6,000 crore. The World Bank has approved $350 million in additional financing under Bangladesh's Energy Sector Security Enhancement Project to support LNG import payments.