LNG supply drops further to 47 percent
Collected Photo
LNG supply through the US-operated Excelerate Energy terminal has been suspended for four days. Now, only the domestic Summit LNG terminal is providing supply. For the last four days, this terminal had supplied 57 crore (570 million) cubic feet of gas per day. Today (Saturday), that has been cut to 50 crore (500 million) cubic feet. As a result, overall LNG supply has dropped to 47 percent of capacity.
As a result, LNG-dependent industries in Dhaka and across the country have started suffering. Heavy industries are struggling to keep production running. In particular, gas-dependent CNG pumps, residential and commercial gas connections have been badly affected. No one can say for sure when this situation will improve.
Senior officials of Petrobangla declined to comment on why gas supply was cut and when the LNG terminal would become operational again. Later, an official of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) said that a US technical team will leave for Maheshkhali tomorrow (Sunday). After an on-site inspection, it will be known when repairs can be completed.
Regarding the reduction in LNG supply, he said there is no technical fault at the Summit terminal. The supply was somewhat reduced to coordinate with tentative import of a new LNG vessel. Once the new ship is connected, supply will increase to an extent. omewhat.
A top businessman involved in the LNG trade said that the Excelerate Energy terminal is shut down solely due to a purely technical fault. A new technical team should be able to fix the fault quickly, but it may take at least two days.
Among the two floating terminals in Maheshkhali of Cox's Bazar, one is operated by US-based Excelerate Energy, and the other by domestic Summit Group. These two companies do not import LNG themselves; the state-run Petrobangla imports LNG through term contracts and from the international spot market. After the LNG tanker arrives at Maheshkhali, the two floating terminals regasify it and supply it to the pipeline grid.
Excelerate Energy's capacity is 60 crore (600 million) cubic feet per day. On 21 July, while supplying LNG from a ship to the floating terminal, a fire broke out in the boiler. Within 10 minutes, the LNG carrier was detached from the floating terminal, which averted a major accident at the Excelerate-operated terminal. Since then, LNG supply through that terminal has been suspended.
The adjacent Summit LNG terminal has a capacity to supply 50 crore (500 million) cubic feet. But with Excelerate's terminal shut down, that terminal was supplying an increased 57 crore (570 million) cubic feet. On Saturday, that was reduced to 50 crore. In this situation, LNG supply has dropped to 47 percent of total capacity.
The Excelerate Energy floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) vessel in the Maheshkhali coast is named Excellence. It was built in South Korea in 2005, meaning the vessel is 21 years old. It officially began commercial operations in 2018 as the country's first LNG terminal. Since its commissioning, it has been shut down five times. There are complaints that because it got old, recurring faults are emerging.
