Gas supply to Chattagram and elsewhere has started to improve after a floating LNG terminal in Moheshkhali resumed production after its 45-day scheduled maintenance programme. “Excelerate Energy’s FSRU started production after scheduled maintenance today. Now it has been supplying 230 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) and hopefully the supply will reach 500 mmcfd soon,” said a top official of the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL). The RPGCL, a subsidiary of state-owned Petrobangla, has been responsible to import LNG from abroad and receive re-gasification service from the existing two LNG terminals in Moheshkhali, one set up by Summit Group and another by US-based Excelerate Energy. Each LNG terminal has a capacity to supply 500 mmcfd gas to the national gas network from which a major portion is supplied to Chattagram . Read: Energy Division regrets inconvenience from gas crisis in Chattagram, elsewhere The Excelerate Energy’s FSRU went on a 45-day maintenance programme suspending supply of gas to the national gas grid while the Summit’s FSRU experienced a technical fault halting gas supply to the national gas network, leading to a severe gas crisis in Chattagram and elsewhere. Many areas in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur experienced extreme gas crises or low pressure problems. The RPGCL official, however, informed that Summit’s FSRU also resumed production to a very low scale and it is providing a supply of 130 mmcfd against its capacity of 500 mmcfd. He noted that the gas shortage problem is unlikely to be fully resolved as the Summit’s FSRU also has a schedule to start maintenance programme within 3-4 days. Read: Uninterrupted gas supply by 2026 : Nasrul Hamid outlines energy plans “We think the situation will improve to some extent, but not fully”, he told UNB. The Energy Division on Friday expressed regrets for the inconvenience caused to consumers over the gas crisis in Chattogram and elsewhere in the country due to the suspension of the LNG supply from FSRU in Moheshkhali following a technical fault there. In a press release, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division said that due to a technical fault at a Moheshkhali LNG FSRU, gas supply to Chattogram and other areas of the country remained suspended since early morning on Friday. Read more: Acute gas crisis hits Chattogram city residents hard

Full scale gas supply from one of the Maheshkhali floating LNG terminals, which remained off from May 11 due to the impact of cyclonic storm Mocha, resumed on Saturday. Aslam Alam, public relations officer (information officer) of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said the operation of one of the floating LNG terminal in Mahishkhali of Cox’s Bazar district resumed on Saturday night. Earlier, the gas supply from the two LNG terminals in Maheshkhali remained suspended due to the impact of Cyclone Mocha from May 11. On May 16, the authorities resumed the operation of one the floating LNG terminals. Also read: Gas supply from two floating LNG terminals to remain off due to cyclone With the resumption of gas supply from the second floating LNG terminal, some 800 million cubic feet of gas (mmcfd) is being added to the national pipeline from the two LNG terminals. People of the country, especially the residents of Chattogram, faced frequent load shedding for several days due to the suspension of the gas supply from two LNG terminals. Production in many factories also remained suspended due to the lack of gas supply. END/UNB/Corr/MAS/SH /FH

State-owned Petrobangla has moved to set up three more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in addition to the existing two currently being operated to regasify imported gas. The proposed three new LNG terminals will be set up in Payra, Moheshkhali and Matarbari whose total regasification capacity would be 2000-3000 MMcf/d, said Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker. Sarker informed that of the three LNG terminals to be set up, two will be floating – known as floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), while one will be land-based terminal. Read More: Govt resumes importing LNG from int'l spot market According to official sources, all three LNG terminals will be set up on the basis of unsolicited offers received from local and foreign companies. Two floating storage and regasification units have been in operation since 2018, of which one was set up by Excelerate Energy of USA at Moheshkhali of Cox’s Bazar with 500 million cubic feet per day while another with the same capacity was set up by the Summit Group in the same area. Of the three terminals to be set up, Excelerate Energy has made an offer for the Payra site while Summit Group made an offer for Moheshkhali. Petrobangla has shortlisted 12 firms for the Matarbari site. Read More: Risky way of supplying gas in cylinders: Petrobangla body for strong safety rules Each of the FSRUs in Payra and Moheshkhali will have the capacity to regasify 500-1000 MMcf/d gas. “Negotiations are progressing fast… We have prepared the term sheet agreement for Payra and Moheshkhali terminals and sent those to the concerned ministry for approval,” the Petrobangla chairman said recently. For the Matarbarti land-based terminal, Petrobangla is waiting to receive a no-objection certificate from Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) which is the original owner of the land. Read More: No additional LNG supply from Qatar before 2025: Petrobangla “Once we receive the NOC, our team and consultant are ready to select the firm for the Matarbari terminal,” Sarker said, adding that there will be options to increase the capacity of Matarbari land-based terminal from its initial capacity. He, however, said that if the government gives approval for setting up the terminals now, it will take 3-5 years to get them installed and ready for operation. He also justified Petrobangla’s move to setting up the new LNG terminals, saying that the country’s demand for gas supply is growing rapidly and it will reach 6500 MMcf/d by 2030 from the current demand of 4,000 MMcf/d against a supply of 3,000 MMcf/d. Read More: Petrobangla starts drilling in Shahbazpur Gas Field If the moves are not undertaken, the country will experience more deficit in gas supply, the Petrobangla chairman said.