Accelerate terminal resumes operations, LNG supply increases
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Finally, there is good news regarding the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG). An LNG carrier has arrived for the floating terminal operated by US company Excelerate Energy.
The LNG carrier Flex Courageous berthed at the floating terminal in Maheshkhali at 1:30 pm on Saturday. The vessel carrying LNG purchased from the international spot market arrived from Cameron Port in the United States.
LNG supply through Excelerate Energy’s terminal is scheduled to begin at around 9:30 pm. Officials of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited hope this will help ease the LNG crisis for the time being.
However, LNG supply through Excelerate Energy’s terminal began at 1:30 pm. The supply initially started with some LNG that had already been stored at the terminal.
As a result, gas supply improved somewhat from the afternoon. The neighboring floating terminal operated by local company Summit Group was already supplying 570 million cubic feet of gas. By around 2:30 pm on Saturday, a total of 670 million cubic feet of gas was being supplied through the two terminals.
An official at the deputy general manager (LNG) level of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited said, “According to the capacity of the two terminals, we will have to wait until Sunday morning to receive 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas. Supply will increase to 800 to 900 million cubic feet on Saturday night.”
The disruption to LNG supply began on April 21. The problem initially arose after a fire broke out in the boiler of the floating terminal operated by US company Excelerate Energy. After remaining operational for two weeks the terminal was affected by an LNG shortage. Meanwhile, the floating terminal operated by local company Summit Group also remained shut due to an LNG shortage.
If both terminals operate at full capacity and supply 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas from Sunday the supply situation is expected to improve. However, there are concerns over how long this level of supply will continue. This is because the arrival of LNG carriers according to the monthly demand has still not been confirmed.
