Bangladesh plans to commission a new floating storage and regasification unit by 2028 to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), a government minister said on Friday.
Dhaka is also planning to develop a land-based import terminal at Matarbari by 2030, Anindya Islam Amit, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, said at the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference in Tokyo on Friday.
Bangladesh currently has two floating LNG import terminals, which can regasify up to 1,100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas.
The new terminal on Moheshkhali Island in the Cox’s Bazar district will have a capacity of approximately 600 mmcfd, while the land-based terminal will have a regasification capacity of approximately 1,000 mmcfd, Amit said, adding that Bangladesh is expanding its LNG infrastructure in anticipation of rising demand for the fuel over the coming decades.
From 2026 to 2030, it will require approximately 3-4 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of additional LNG, while the additional requirement is expected to increase significantly to approximately 17-18 mtpa between 2031 and 2040, he said.
Bangladesh imported nearly 7 million tonnes of LNG last year, with the bulk of supplies coming from Qatar, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. It has been relying on spot imports this year after QatarEnergy declared force majeure on its shipments after its LNG facilities were damaged amid the US-Iran war.
In July, QatarEnergy halved its scheduled deliveries of LNG to Bangladesh for this year, Petrobangla’s acting chairman Abdul Mannan said, as the fallout from the Iran war curbed shipments of the super-chilled fuel through the Strait of Hormuz.
“All these problems stem from the war,” Abdul Mannan had told Reuters, adding that Bangladesh’s state-owned energy company was exploring alternative LNG sourcing, including more spot-market purchases and government-to-government deals with other suppliers.
In March, as Asia spot LNG prices doubled to three-year highs, Bangladesh reportedly increased its coal power generation and coal-fired power imports, according to daily government data.