LNG Cargo Arrives in Bay of Bengal, Boosts Gas Supply to National Pipeline
A new LNG cargo has arrived in Bangladesh's Bay of Bengal, boosting gas supply to the national pipeline after a three-day suspension. The Excelerate Energy terminal resumed supplying gas at 2pm on Saturday, with an initial volume of 100 million cubic feet. This is expected to increase over time, although it may take several more days for the crisis to ease fully.
The current LNG supply from Excelerate has been declining since its partial restart on August 15. The terminal was shut down following a fire on July 21 and resumed operations after a 25-day gas crisis. However, without new LNG cargo arriving, supply from Excelerate gradually declined and stopped completely on Wednesday afternoon.
Domestic gas production in Bangladesh has been declining for the past nine years, prompting the country to begin importing LNG in 2018 to meet the shortfall. The country has two floating LNG terminals at Maheshkhali, one operated by US company Excelerate Energy and the other by local company Summit. Excelerate's terminal was shut down following a fire on July 21.
According to Petrobangla and RPGCL sources, Bangladesh's daily gas demand stands at around 3.8 billion cubic feet. The situation is usually managed with a maximum supply of about 2.7 billion cubic feet, including 1.05 billion cubic feet from LNG imports and the remainder from domestic gas fields.