Bangladesh buys two LNG shipments at higher price

The total cost of the two shipments has been estimated at Tk 14.37 billion

Although the easing of the conflict in West Asia is likely to reduce energy prices, the government has decided to import two cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the international spot market at a higher price than last week.

The cost of buying these two LNG cargoes through international quotations has been estimated at Tk 14.37 billion. Last week, Bangladesh had bought the same amount for Tk 13.55 billion, which had come at a slightly lower rate compared to LNG import prices over the past two months.

The proposal for the shipments was partially approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) at the Secretariat on Wednesday. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury presided over the meeting.

Due to the war in West Asia, the price of LNG has been high recently, reaching close to Tk 8 billion per shipment around March. However, after last week’s purchase, the government reported that the average cost per shipment had dropped below Tk 7 billion.

And yet, a week later, the cost per shipment has pushed past Tk 7 billion once more.

A media statement from the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday said these two new shipments will be brought from BP Singapore and UK's TotalEnergies Gas & Power.

On Jun 24, it was decided to import two cargoes of LNG separately from Singapore's Aramco Trading Singapore and Gunvor Singapore.

The CCGP had approved the import of three LNG cargoes on Jun 17.

On June 17, the procurement committee meeting decided to import three LNG cargoes through the same process. At that time, it was decided that Singapore-based Vital Asia and Aramco Trading Singapore would supply two shipments and UK-based Total Energies Gas and Power Limited would supply one shipment.

The total cost to the government was estimated at Tk 21.12 billion, with the average price of each shipment above Tk 7 billion. The average prices of LNG imports were even higher in May and early June.

The CCGP meeting on Wednesday also decided to import 220,000 tonnes of wheat from the United States and another 50,000 tonnes through an international open tender.

The committee also approved the purchase of 75,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Canada and Russia.