Govt to import LNG worth $2bn next year

The government is set to import 1000mmcfd (million cubic feet per day) liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the next year with a cost of $2 billion. A high-powered committee headed by Md Zakir Hossain, additional secretary to the Power Division, will sit in a meeting on the first day of 2018 to discuss management of the fund for the import. A nine-member-committee has been formed to carry out the import. The committee includes Economic Relations Division Joint Secretary Md Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Petrobangla Director (finance) Md Tawhid Hasanat Khan, Bangladesh Bank General Manager Md Azizur Rahman and Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) Managing Director M Quamruzzaman among others. “We have already got a nod from the government’s high-ups to use energy security fund for LNG import,” said an RPGCL official seeking anonymity. “Channeling funds from international donor agencies will also be discussed during the upcoming meeting,” the official added. “We are expected to add 500mmcfd of LNG in April 2018 and another 500mmcfd in October 2018,” the official concern said. The government is planning to import about 2000mmcfd LNG by installing four separate floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) by the year 2020, confirmed a senior official of Energy and Mineral Resources Division. Over half a dozen of local and international companies have expressed their interests to set up LNG-based power plants in the country. The combined power generation capacity of these plants will stand at 13,083MW, sources said. Of them, a number of local and international companies have already got green signals from the government to install a series of LNG based plants. The companies included Summit Power, United Group, Reliance Power of India, Mitsui and Co of Japan and Siemens of Germany. The government is hopeful to get USD$4 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) from German-based Siemens Bangladesh Ltd to install the FSRU in the coming days, top officials said. Indian Reliance Power Ltd and China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Ltd have proposed to set up 3200MW and 1500MW LNG based plants at Maheshkhali and Meghnaghat respectively. At present, the country’s remaining natural gas reserve stands at 13.28 trillion cubic feet (TCF) which is eventually pushing the government to look for the comparatively costly sources.