Gas Supply Disrupted Across Bangladesh – LNG Unloading Stuck at Sea

Bad Weather Halts LNG Unloading at Sea

For the past two days, cargo ships carrying LNG (liquefied natural gas) have not been able to connect to the floating terminals in the Bay of Bengal because of rough weather.

As a result, LNG cannot be unloaded, which is now affecting gas supply in Chattogram under Karnaphuli Gas Company and in Dhaka under Titas Gas, according to officials.

Petrobangla and Titas Express Regret

Both state-owned Petrobangla and Titas Gas issued separate messages expressing regret over the temporary disruption in gas supply.

LNG Supply Significantly Reduced

In a message from Petrobangla on Wednesday night, it was stated that:

“Due to severe weather, LNG cargoes could not be berthed at the FSRU (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit) at Maheshkhali in the deep sea for the past two days. This has significantly reduced LNG flow into the national grid.
As a result, low gas pressure is being experienced in areas served by Karnaphuli Gas and Titas Gas. LNG offloading will resume as soon as the weather improves.”

LNG Supply Drops from 1000 to 250 million Cubic Feet

According to Md. Salah Uddin, General Manager of Petrobangla’s LNG division,

“In the past two days, daily LNG supply dropped to around 250 million cubic feet. We hope to start offloading cargo at Summit’s FSRU by noon today, and at Accelerate Energy’s FSRU by afternoon.”

No Recent Update on Supply Report

The last updated supply report on Petrobangla’s website was on 16 June. On 15 June, about 1,000 million cubic feet of LNG was supplied, while the total gas flow in the national pipeline was just over 2,800 million cubic feet.

Demand Is Much Higher Than Supply

Currently, Bangladesh’s domestic gas production is less than 2,000 million cubic feet per day. But the national demand is at least 3,800 million cubic feet. This causes a shortfall of about 1,000 million cubic feet daily, which the government tries to meet by importing LNG.

Source: BD News 24