Despite suspension of liquified natural gas (LNG) import from international spot market, the government has decided to increase the number of listed LNG suppliers. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in a virtual meeting, with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair,   approved a proposal of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division in this regard on Thursday. Read more: Saudi Arabia assures assistance in commercial supply of LNG to Bangladesh The new eight companies which were added to the existing list of 16 companies are  LNG Japan Corporation, Japan;  Socar Trading UK Ltd.; POSCO International Corporation, Korea;  Qatar Energy Trading LLC;  Inpex Corporation, Japan;  Pavilion Energy Trading & Supply Pte Ltd. Singapore; . PetroChina International Pte Ltd. Singapore; and  PTT International Trading Pte Ltd, Singapore. However, it is not clear whether the government  will  withdraw suspension on import immediately or not. The government earlier suspended the import of LNG from international spot market in July following the excessive hike in prices against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war. Before the war, Bangladesh was purchasing LNG from the spot market between $6-10 per MMBtu. After start of the war in February this year, the price crossed $37 per MMBtu. Read more: No additional LNG supply from Qatar before 2025: Petrobangla Now again the price took a declining trend in recent month. Last month, the price came down below $24 per MMBtu. Beside the import of LNG from spot market, Bangladesh has long term contract with Qatar and Kuwait to import the gas relatively at much lower price which varies between $11-17 per MMBtu in recent years depending on the price of liquid fuel on the international market.

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday approved 10 procurement proposals including import of 1.235 million mts of petroleum fuel and 3.360 million MMBtu liquified natural gas (LNG) . Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the Cabinet body meeting. Read: Cabinet body okays proposal to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinopharm vaccine According to the meeting decisions,  state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import 1.234 million mts of petroleum fuel in different packages from Unipec Singapore Pte Ltd. Singapore, Petro China International (Singapore) Pte Ltd., VitoI Asia Pte Ltd., Singapore, and Emirates National Oil Company Pte Ltd, Singapore., at a total cost of Tk 5,774.45 crore (equivalent to about $683.366 million) over the next six months from June-December 2021. The supplier companies were selected through international quotation, said Shamsul Arefin, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division while briefing reporters on the issue.    He, however, did not disclose what will be the premium of the product and which item of petroleum will be imported from the companies.   The Petrobangla and its subordinate body RPGCL will import 3.360 million MMBtu of LNG from Excelerate Energy LP, United States at a contract value of Tk 313.68 crore.  The unit price of the LNG was not disclosed.  Read: Cabinet body clears proposal to purchase 30,000MT urea The Cabinet committee approved a proposal of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for awarding of a contract for procurement of design, development, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of telecom monitoring system for the telecom networks and systems of Bangladesh from TKC Telecom Inc, Canada at a cost of Tk 77.65 crore. A proposal of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to procure 3 passenger cruise vessels from Karnaphuli Ship Builders at Tk 231.13 crore received the approval of the committee. The Cabinet body gave nod to a proposal of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority to appoint a service provider at Tk 218.71 crore for collecting fees and taxes  from motor vehicles through online for next five years. However, it was not disclosed which company won the contract for the job. Read:Cabinet body OKs import of 250,000MT rice Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) received the committee’s approval for procuring 30,000 metric tons of bagged granular urea fertiliser from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (Kafco) at a value of Tk 87.63 crore. The Cabinet body approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Railway to change 9 points of the PCC (Particular Conditions of Contract) of the Commercial Contract and also its supplementary agreement -2 of the Padma Bridge Rail Connection Project with Chana Railway Group of China (CRÈC). Shamsul Arefin said though the conditions of the contract will be changed, but it will not have any effect on the contract value.

The government will import 350,000 metric tons of rice more in the coming days as the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod in principle to a proposal of the Directorate General of Food on Wednesday.

A delayed move to hire a consultant has pushed back the process for selecting a qualified bidder for the country’s maiden land-based LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal project at Matarbari in Maheshkhali of Cox’s Bazar, energy industry sources say.

GE (NYSE: GE) has announced that it will be providing its advanced gas turbine technology upgrade Advanced Gas Path (AGP) for the upcoming Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power Ltd.’s 718-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant in Meghnaghat, Bangladesh.