Team in Qatar to negotiate price-LNG IMPORT for first quarter of 2018

[EastBengalPro]

A high-level team headed by the chairman of Petrobangla has left for Qatar to negotiate the price of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) Bangladesh wants to import in the first quarter of 2018.
The team will discuss the terms of the import of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually from the gas-rich country in the Middle East which would cost the country Tk. 1.46 billion per year.
“This would be the final stage of negotiations with RasGas, a company of the Qatar government, to import LNG for the next 15 years. The negotiations could be finalized in two months,” said an Energy Division official who is involved in the LNG project to mitigate the gas crisis in the country.
“We need 3.7 million tonnes of LNG per year. We will import 2.5 million tonnes from Qatar and buy the rest from the international open market. That way, we can compare the price,” the official explained. In the international market, the current LNG price is $6–7 per unit.
The US-based Excelerate Energy is setting up Bangladesh’s first LNG terminal, which will handle 500 MMCF of the imported LNG and supply it to the national grid from early 2018. So, Petrobangla, the government’s oil and gas firm, needs to finalize the import chain before scheduling the import.
Sources said that after the Qatar visit, the team headed by Abul Mansur Md Faizullah will visit London to meet the shippers to arrange the transport of the LNG from Qatar to Chittagong. “We have not yet got an appointment with the London shipper. So, we will visit them after Eid,” said a government official.
The country is currently facing a huge gas crisis. Bangladesh produces only 2,700 MMCF gas per day but the demand is for more than 3,400 MMCF gas. More than 3,000 new industrial units have been seeking gas connections for the last five years, without any luck. Six of the seven fertilizer factories in the country have had to be shut down due to the gas shortage.
The country’s average gas selling price is Tk. 7 per unit. But if the imported LNG is injected into the national grid, the price could be Tk. 14 to 20, if the National Board of Revenue (NBR) taxes are not cut.
Recently, the Energy Division has pointed out to the Prime Minister that the NBR charges 122.22 per cent tax on gas sales, creating a huge challenge for the division to supply gas at a cheaper price. Cheap gas could boost the industry and create more jobs.
Sources said the visiting team will meet senior Qatar officials and RasGas officials on June 18. The team will be back on June 21.
Five Arab nations have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar recently, deepening the rift among the Gulf nations over support to Islamist groups. “The team will try to
get LNG at a cheaper rate, as the two countries have had a good relationship for a decade. We have been importing oil from Qatar on a government-to-government basis. So, the LNG deal will be normal trade between the two countries,” said a government official.
RasGas is one of the world’s premier integrated LNG enterprises. The company has developed world-class offshore and onshore facilities for the extraction, processing, liquefaction, and storage of gas from Qatar’s North Field.
Its primary product of overseas export is LNG, with a production capacity of about 37 million tonnes per annum. According to the consultancy group Wood Mackenzie, through partnerships with Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, and other companies, Qatar has built major infrastructure to produce LNG. It was the world’s largest exporter of LNG last year, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the supply.

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/100158

 

[Species]

Will our LNG terminals be ready before 2018?