New FSRU nearby to feed growing fuel demand

A new floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) with a capacity to re-gasify around 600 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of liquefied gas is planned to feed economy's growing fuel demand.

Officials say foreign firms are queuing up to build the floating LNG-conversion plant at Kutubjom of Moheshkhali island on the Bay of Bengal under public-private partnership.

The new one would be the fourth FSRU in the South Asian country, energy and mineral resources division (EMRD) secretary Mohammad Saiful Islam told the Financial Express Wednesday.

Two FSRUs are already in operation at Moheshkhali island on the Bay of Bengal and the third FSRU is trapped in court cases.

Several companies of different countries, including CMC of China, Aramco of Saudi Arabia, Socar of Azerbaijan, OQ Trading International of Oman and Posco of South Korea, have already expressed their interest about the country's fourth FSRU, said the EMRD secretary.

"We are eyeing selecting a contractor either through government-to- government negotiation or through an open bidding," says the secretary of the EMRD under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR).

The FSRU would be implemented under public-private partnership (PPP).

The government has planned to complete construction of the FSRU and to initiate its commissioning by 2028, said the official.

"Tariff negotiation would not be a tough task as we have tariff benchmarks with us as two FSRUs, one of US and another of a local company, are already in operation," Mr Islam adds.

Despite a mounting demand, Bangladesh cannot import increased volumes of LNG due to infrastructure bottlenecks, he says about justification for the new gas facility.

Bangladesh has re-gasified LNG almost at the saturation level of the two operational FSRUs over the past year to feed gas-guzzling industries and power plants.

The two conversion facilities re-gasified around 1,022mmcfd LNG, the highest volume, against the official capacity of 1,100 mmcfd, on March 18, 2025, according to official data of Petrobangla.

Petrobangla re-gasified around 931mmcfd LNG on February 24, 2026, according to Petrobangla data.

Bangladesh has been rationing natural gas supplies to industries, power plants and other consumers amid scarcity of the fuel.

Gas supply from local fields is also on the decline, prompting import of the liquefied gas.

Since LNG import began in 2018, Bangladesh has imported around 35.39 million mt of LNG in 571 cargoes as of January 2026, according to official data from state-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd, or RPGCL.

The overall domestic natural gas output currently is hovering around 2,647mmcfd, including 931mmcfd re-gasified LNG, according to official data as of February 24.

azizjst@yahoo.com