DHAKA: Bangladesh entered into agreements Monday with Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Ltd. (EEBL), a unit of Excelerate Energy L.P., to construct its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal, a development that would facilitate the import of gas for the energy deficient country.
The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corp. (Petrobangla) signed two agreements with EEBL to build a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU),which comes six years after the government first floated the initial tender for building the LNG terminal in 2010, local daily The Financial Express reported Monday.
“There is a demand for another 3,500 million cubic feet gas for the development of industries in the country. Research is on to this end. Gas will also be imported from other countries,” Bangladesh’s State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, as quoted in The Financial Express. The Minister said the government is studying plans to build four other terminals on land and that construction of several other similar floating terminals is also on the agenda.
Excelerate’s $500 million investment in the FSRU project, one of the largest projects in Bangladesh after those developed by Chevron Corp., would allow Bangladesh to use the terminal for 15 years after its completion. According to local media Energy Bangla, EEBL will complete construction of the FSRU within 18 months of the signing of the agreements and LNG imports may commence in early 2018.
The agreements were signed by the Ministry’s Deputy Secretary Jonendra Nath Sarkar, Petrobangla Secretary Syed Ashfaquzzaman and Excelerate Energy Chief Development Officer Daniel Bustus.
