Dhaka, May 06 – The Bangladesh government is planning to import more Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from the global market. During the recent state visit of Prime Minister Sheik Hasina in Brunei, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for LNG supply from the country.
Bangladesh in last year started getting LNG from RasGas, Qatar.
During the Prime Minister’s visit to Brunei from April 21-23, the state Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid and Brunei’s Energy, Manpower and Industry Minister Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny inked the MoU on cooperation in LNG supply.
Later a joint statement was issued saying, “Given the growing demand for energy in Bangladesh to support rapid economic growth, both sides agreed to explore the possibility of comprehensive collaboration in the energy sector, via a Government-to-Government (G2G) arrangement,
including liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply to Bangladesh.”
Meanwhile, globally recognized oil and gas supply company, AOT Energy is on the pipeline and presently waiting for Bangladesh government’s final ratification. To ensure the future supply of LNG uninterrupted, govt earlier agreed with world-famous supplier AOT Energy of Switzerland for a long 15-year term.
AOT and Petrobangla singed an MoU in June 2017. Later successfully completing all process and procedures, the decision is now pending with the ministry of energy for sending to the purchase committee of the cabinet for final approval for the final agreement.
Once done, Switzerland based oil and gas provider company AOT Energy will supply 1.25 metric ton LNG for 15 years to minimise the acute natural gas crisis in the country. Considering the necessity of bringing a cost-efficient, flexible and timely solution to the country’s energy requirements, AOT offered 12.00 USD per unit while the country is presently paying 12.65 USD per unit to RasGas, Qatar.
While trying to learn about the progress, The Independent came to know that, AOT recently sent a letter to the adviser to Prime Minister Salman F Rahman for undertaking further steps to begin competitive LNG supplies to Bangladesh. In the letter, AOT appreciated the role of Bangladesh to conclude LNG supply agreement with Petrobangla.
The letter was also copied to the top decision-makers including Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen, Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman, Principal SDG Coordinator Abul Kalam Azad and Switzerland Ambassador in Bangladesh René Holenstein.
In the letter, James O’Brien, Global Head of LNG, AOT Energy Group said AOT have the capacity to meet the demand of Bangladesh related to gas import. Apart from this, the AOT offer is providing benefits through profit sharing, cost savings, knowledge transfer to Bangladeshi citizens.
As a brief background, AOT Energy Group is a global energy company since 1947. Over the years, AOT Energy has developed into a significant player in the global oil and gas markets with multi-billion dollar revenues with significant operations including production, transportation and storage assets. The company also has significant and lengthy experience in the implementation and supply of key energy infrastructure worldwide. AOT main trading offices are located in Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Indonesia, Singapore, Canada and the USA.
In Bangladesh, AOT Energy has been actively promoting the use of LNG since the very first discussions took place about setting up an LNG import terminal in the country over 9 years ago.
Earlier, the government plans to import about 2000 mmcfd LNG by installing four separate floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) by the year 2020 and will import LNG at a cost of $2 billion to mitigate the gas crisis in the country.
As part of this plan, Petrobangla and AOT Energy singed deal on June 2017 – MoU signed between AOT and Petrobangla. Upon the agreement, an inter-organisational delegation visited AOT Headquarters and their industrial sites to learn about their experience and capacities.
The delegation comprising of EMRD, Petrobangla, PMO, NBR and Law Ministry went to Switzerland in March 2018 and they submitted a report upon their return and was very positive. Finally, on December last, a Director of Prime Minister’s Office wrote to AOT appreciating their
efforts and interest to import LNG from the company.
Enegry ministry sources said, the offer is now to be sent to the purchase committee of the cabinet for a final approval as the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who herself is in the charge of the concerned ministry.
Experts said, Bangladesh needs to import more LNG from abroad to consider the gas requirement for higher industrial production. In this ground, LNG import from Switzerland based company AOT is profitable which would help strengthening bilateral trade between the two
countries, they opined. They urged the government for settling the matter immediately to resolve the gas crisis in the country. – Staff Reporter
