‘Normal’ gas supply expected as Moheshkhali LNG terminal resumes operations

Gas supply dropped by about 400 MMCFD as an FSRU was shut for technical reasons

The national grid has started receiving gas from the floating LNG terminal off Moheshkhali Upazila in Cox’s Bazar after a six-hour pause due to technical glitches.

In a media statement on Tuesday, Petrobangla said the Moheshkhali Floating LNG (MLNG) terminal shut its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) around 6am.

But the FSRU operated by US-based Excelerate Energy resumed the gas supply around 12noon once the technical issues were sorted out.

Authorities hope that the gas supply in the national grid will return to normal soon.

In an urgent notification, the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd said gas supply dropped by around 400 million cubic feet per day after one floating terminal supplying regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) shut down.

Apologising to customers, the country’s largest gas company then warned of low gas pressure across its network, including in Gazaria, Meghna Ghat, Sonargaon, Narayanganj and the southern part of Dhaka.

RLNG is produced by regasifying imported LNG.

FSRUs are floating terminals at sea where LNG is stored, converted into gas and then sent to the national grid through pipelines.

Bangladesh began importing LNG through its first floating terminal in Moheshkhali in 2018.

The terminal has a regasification capacity of 500 million standard cubic feet per day.

A second terminal with the same capacity was commissioned later.

The two FRSUs had been supplying up to 900 million cubic feet of gas to the national network a day until the first was shut on Tuesday morning.

The closure of an FRSU left consumers in the affected areas with low gas pressure.