Bangladesh gas supply affected by partial shutdown of LNG terminal

Officials said that Bangladesh's gas supply is under new strain after a technical issue at one of the floating LNG terminals in the country led to a partial shutdown. This resulted in the removal of 450 million cubic foot per day (mmcfd), from the national grid.

The incident occurred on the floating storage unit and regasification (FSRU) operated near Moheshkhali by U.S. based Excelerate Energy during a ship to ship LNG transfer?operation that took place on Tuesday.

Petrobangla, a state-owned company, said that engineers were working on repairing the fault but warned that it could take up to two days before the terminal resumed its normal operations.

Excelerate Energy didn't immediately respond to an?request for a comment made outside of its normal business hours. Loss of supply is expected to exacerbate shortages in households and industries that are already struggling with inadequate gas supplies. The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has already tightened the global LNG supply. Attacks on Qatar's export capability and shipping through Strait of Hormuz have caused QatarEnergy to declare force majeure and pushed up Asian spot prices. .

The Moheshkhali Terminal is one of two floating LNG installations that support Bangladesh's gas imports. The two units together can regasify 1,100 mmcfd, which makes them a vital part of Bangladesh's energy infrastructure.

Bangladesh uses between 3,800 and 4,000 mmcfd per day of gas, but supplies are typically around 2,600 mmcfd. This leaves a gap as large as 1,400mmcfd.

(source: Reuters)