Petrobangla signs MOU with Indian H-Energy to import R-LNG

[Black_cats]

Petrobangla signs MOU with Indian H-Energy to import R-LNG

FE ONLINE REPORT | Published: June 20, 2021 19:36:19 | Updated: June 20, 2021 20:14:46

State-run Petrobangla has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indian H-Energy recently to import re-gasified LNG (R-LNG) through a cross-border pipeline.

This is Petrobangla’s second MOU with Indian firms to import the expensive R-LNG through cross-country pipeline, a senior Petrobangla official told the FE.

Earlier it inked a similar agreement with India’s state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to import R-LNG.

When contacted, Petrobangla Chairman ABM Abdul Fattah refused to talk with the FE about the terms of the MOU.

Both the Indian firms have planned to export R-LNG to Bangladesh after importing the expensive fuel from a third country.

Petrobangla might have to bear the pipeline laying cost, wheeling charge to carry the R-LNG in addition to the import price of LNG, once it starts importing R-LNG from the Indian firms.

Sources said, both the IOCL and H-Energy are keen to supply R-LNG to Bangladesh’s south-western Khulna region to run gas-guzzling industries especially the power plants.

The proposed 800 megawatt (MW) gas-fired combined cycle power plant at Rupsha in Khulna region will be the major consumer of the imported R-LNG.

Bangladesh never imported R-LNG.
The IOCL and H-Energy earlier held several rounds of discussions over the past several years with the NWPGCL to supply R-LNG to the Rupsha power plant.

As per the initial discussions, the IOCL was keen to supply around 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) equivalent of R-LNG from a 5.0 million tonnes per year (MPTA) capacity Dhamra LNG terminal of Indian Odisha state.

The H-Energy was keen to supply initially around 125 mmcfd of R-LNG, which it said could be increased to 500 mmcfd and 1.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from its 8.0 MPTA capacity LNG terminal at Digha of West Bengal.

The NWPGCL’s 800 MW power plant will require around 130 mmcfd of RLNG to generate electricity.

The remaining gas could be supplied to the natural gas grid for consumption by other gas-guzzling consumers including industries and power plants.

Construction of a total of 118 kilometre-long pipeline from Kolkata-Benapole (72 km) and from Benapole-Jessore (46 km) will be required to pump the LNG from India into Bangladesh's national gas grid.

Several multilateral donors have agreed to provide a record US$800 million in loan to implement the power plant.

Of the total lending, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $600 million and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) would give $200 million for the plant.

The power plant would have two gas-fired units, each having 400 MW capacity to run on imported R-LNG.

The government would provide the remaining $150 million for its implementation.

Currently, Petrobangla has been importing lean LNG from Qatar's QatarGas and Oman's Oman Trading International (OTI) and re-gasifying LNG in two privately owned floating LNG terminals at Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal since August 2018.

Petrobangla has also been importing LNG from spot market September 2020.
azizjst@yahoo.com

Petrobangla signs MOU with Indian H-Energy to import R-LNG

State-run Petrobangla has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indian H-Energy recently to import re-gasified LNG (R-LNG) through a cross-border pipeline. This is Petrobangla’s second MOU with Indian firms to import the expensive R-LNG through cross-country pipeline, a senior...

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

 

[Bilal9]

This is Petrobangla’s second MOU with Indian firms to import the expensive R-LNG through cross-country pipeline, a senior Petrobangla official told the FE.

Earlier it inked a similar agreement with India’s state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to import R-LNG.

When contacted, Petrobangla Chairman ABM Abdul Fattah refused to talk with the FE about the terms of the MOU.

Both the Indian firms have planned to export R-LNG to Bangladesh after importing the expensive fuel from a third country.

Is it clear to everyone now of Indian manipulation to get another contract, again ??

This minister is trying to hide the terms - why? WHY??

This Abdul Fattah idiot owes people an explanation - this is a govt. dept. run using taxpayer money. He can't hide things under the rug.

Why will we give Indians the contract for the gas supply? So they can renege at some point and hold us hostage?? This is critical national power infrastructure we're talking about. Can you see Indians trusting us with contracts like this - when it comes to their critical infra?

Summit energy already has two Re-gasification terminal/plants in Chittagong near Matarbari, under use, pipelines supply this imported gas to Chittagong and Dhaka. Another Re-gasification plant is planned in Chittagong as well. Summit or others can easily establish another one near Mongla and supply the needs for this powerplant.

I mean you go into shady deals - its fine. But be prepared for the fallout.

Petrobangla might have to bear the pipeline laying cost, wheeling charge to carry the R-LNG in addition to the import price of LNG, once it starts importing R-LNG from the Indian firms.

This is borderline hilarious.

If PetroBangla is paying for everything, building the pipeline (mostly in India), the imported gas and the transmission costs, then what are the Indians paying for?

Free BS for our consumption?

Why should we pay to improve Indian gas pipeline infra?

What's next - Indians asking for free electricity produced from this powerplant, to light up Kolkata?

Only for Indians to boast that "Bangladesh runs on Indian charity, exported power and TEK-NA-LAJEE" ?

 

[Krptonite]

Is it clear to everyone now of Indian manipulation to get another contract, again ??

This minister is trying to hide the terms - why? WHY??

This Abdul Fattah idiot owes people an explanation - this is a govt. dept. run using taxpayer money. He can't hide things under the rug.

Why will we give Indians the contract for the gas supply? So they can renege at some point and hold us hostage?? This is critical national power infrastructure we're talking about. Can you see Indians trusting us with contracts like this - when it comes to their critical infra?

Summit energy already has two Re-gasification plants in Chittagong near Matarbari, under use, piplines supply Chittagong and Dhaka. Another Re-gasification plant is planned in Chittagong as well. Summit or others can easily establish another one near Mongla and supply the needs for this powerplant.

I mean you go into shady deals - its fine. But be prepared for the fallout.


This is borderline hilarious.

If PetroBangla is paying for everything, building the pipeline (mostly in India) and the transmission costs, then what are the Indians paying for?

You could petition an appropriate judicial body to look into the details of the deal. That would be within your rights as a Bangladeshi citizen. If something is hidden, either way the public will know. Simply having a MoU with GOI and not disclosing about it might be worth looking into but not to the level of direct accusation. There might be legitimate reasons for the obfuscation.

What ever your views on India, it is an undeniable fact that we are neighbours, this makes trade across the spectrum easier and cheaper for the both of us. It is our duty to seek profitable deals for our organizations just as it is for yours. If a hint of underhandedness is suspected, might as well use the democratic institutions upon which our countries are built upon.

As a patriotic citizen I would suggest you approach judicial institutions and persue this matter, this way you'd be doing far more for your country than moaning about it online.

 

[Bilal9]

You could petition an appropriate judicial body to look into the details of the deal. That would be within your rights as a Bangladeshi citizen. If something is hidden, either way the public will know. Simply having a MoU with GOI and not disclosing about it might be worth looking into but not to the level of direct accusation. There might be legitimate reasons for the obfuscation.

There can be no "legitimate reasons for the obfuscation".

No if's, and's or but's.

This is a taxpayer funded organization.

He cannot 'obfuscate' jack squat.

 

[Krptonite]

There can be no "legitimate reasons for the obfuscation".

No if's, and's or but's.

This is a taxpayer funded organization.

He cannot 'obfuscate' jack squat.

At times when large organisations are involved in multiple contract negotiations, it is wiser to keep pricing details hidden at the time of concluding deals lest the information affect the negotiations of other similar deals with other parties.

Your objections are valid, the degree is not.

 

[Arulmozhi Varman]

Slave BD in another thread when someone "released" the price of Chinese vaccine - Treason, fire the official, how dare they disclose the price.

Here, how dare they didn't disclose the terms of the deal... That's how slaves are differentiated.

Unlike in slaves case, where a Chinese institution will fund the project or sale and there will be no bidding, no disclose nothing, this deal is funded by ADB. They will not release funds if something looks off or they think this deal is too favourable to Indian companies that BD won't be able to pay the loan off.
But ofcouurse the inferiority complex American hating (but loves living there) Chinese loving slaves will comment all that.

 

[bluesky]

Construction of a total of 118 kilometre-long pipeline from Kolkata-Benapole (72 km) and from Benapole-Jessore (46 km) will be required to pump the LNG from India into Bangladesh's national gas grid.

Several multilateral donors have agreed to provide a record US$800 million in loan to implement the power plant.

Of the total lending, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $600 million and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) would give $200 million for the plant.

I do not know if 36" or 32" pipes will be laid. I do not know if the pipes will be over the ground or underground, I do not know how many canals or rivers the pipeline will have to cross. But, the cost of laying a pipeline is roughly around $3.5 million per km.

Here, for a 118 km long pipeline, the concerned BD authority will borrow $800. It means about $6.75 per km. To me, it is a bit expensive, more than twice than it should be.

 

[Bilal9]

Slave BD in another thread when someone "released" the price of Chinese vaccine - Treason, fire the official, how dare they disclose the price.

Here, how dare they didn't disclose the terms of the deal... That's how slaves are differentiated.

Unlike in slaves case, where a Chinese institution will fund the project or sale and there will be no bidding, no disclose nothing, this deal is funded by ADB. They will not release funds if something looks off or they think this deal is too favourable to Indian companies that BD won't be able to pay the loan off.
But ofcouurse the inferiority complex American hating (but loves living there) Chinese loving slaves will comment all that.

Don't worry your small brain with all the details. Not your call in India who we give our contracts to, or how.

Just know that Indians will not get any contracts going forward - based on past performance, which has mostly been horrible. Piss poor is a better word - actually.

Bangladeshi private companies soured on Indian Banyas a looong time ago....nowadays Indians only try to manipulate govt. contracts, and that will end soon as well...

At times when large organisations are involved in multiple contract negotiations, it is wiser to keep pricing details hidden at the time of concluding deals lest the information affect the negotiations of other similar deals with other parties.

Your objections are valid, the degree is not.

I am sure Bangladesh has something similar to "Freedom of Information Act" (FOIA) in the books, which it decides not to enforce, selectively.

In the US (and most other common law countries) FOIA says, Government contracts are "public contracts," and the taxpayers have a right to know--with very few exceptions--what the government has agreed to buy and at what prices. Taxpayer money is not private money. Taxpayers will have paid for this.

FOIA Update: Disclosure of Prices

www.justice.gov