Petrobangla official: Bangladesh will import 11 LNG cargoes from May.
A Petrobangla official stated on Thursday that Bangladesh will import 11 cargoes in May of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to'meet the demand during peak summer season. This includes two spot cargoes which were'recently awarded.
The official stated that "due to disruptions in supply and force majeure declared from major suppliers, three cargoes would come from long-term agreements, while the remaining eight would have to be purchased on the spot market which remains volatile."
The government was forced to increase the subsidies for March and April by approximately 45 billion taka (about $366.75 million) to deal with the pressure.
Asian LNG prices have increased since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. This conflict has curtailed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and caused disruptions in the supply of exporters such as Qatar.
Since the beginning of the war on February 28, Bangladesh has purchased 11 spot cargoes.
According to a source in the market and an official from Petrobangla, it recently awarded a bid for two spot cargoes, valued at $19.825/mmBtu each and $19.194/mmBtu respectively, with delivery dates of May 2-3 and 8-9.
In the past year, Bangladesh imported more than half of its LNG from Qatar. Dhaka has already requested $2 billion in external financing for fuel and LNG imports. ($1 = 122.7000 taka)
(source: Reuters)
