Bangladesh defers two LNG cargoes as domestic demand falls

Dhaka — Bangladesh has deferred two LNG cargoes, with the capacity to carry 138,000 cu m, as a nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic dented domestic demand of natural gas.

Both the cargoes were bound to supply LNG in May from Qatar's QatarGas, Md Kamruzzaman, managing director of state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd, told S&P Global Platts June 16.

He said both cargoes had been re-scheduled for later in the year -- one of them will supply LNG in September and another in December -- when domestic demand is expected to grow.

Bangladesh's nationwide shutdown, which lasted until May 30, hit almost all types of transportation, including air, rail, public transport, as well as movement of private vehicles.

Almost all types of gas-based industries and factories were shut under the nationwide lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus.

Only gas-guzzling power plants were operational, but with limited output due to lower electricity demand, which fell on an average by around 30% to around 7,000 MW, according to the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board.

More than half of Bangladesh's natural gas demand comes from the power sector, according to the International Energy Agency.

Natural gas demand had slipped by around one-third to 2.13 Bcf/d in May but state-run Petrobangla kept re-gasification of LNG almost unchanged at around 600,000 Mcf/d during most of the shutdown period compared with the pre-shutdown period. The current level of re-gasification has fallen to around 500,000 Mcf/d.

After May 31, Bangladesh has allowed functioning of public and private offices as well as operation of public transport, both on a limited scale..

Bangladesh's LNG re-gasification capacity rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic period following the completion of the 181 km Chattogram-Feni-Bakhrabad gas transmission natural gas pipeline in March. This will ensure full utilization of the country's two operational floating storage and re-gasification units.

The South Asian country will be able to re-gasify double the quantity of LNG, compared with the current re-gasification level of around 500,000 Mcf/d, government officials said.