Bangladesh has received interest from twelve companies to build the country’s first onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The South Asian country, which has a population of more than 160 million, is turning to land-based LNG terminals as its first imports of the super-chilled fuel via a floating platform were delayed due to weather and technical issues.
Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co, part of state-owned oil and gas company Petrobangla, earlier this year had requested expressions of interest (EOI) from potential terminal developers for a land-based LNG regasification terminal at Matarbari in the Cox’s Bazar district of southern Bangladesh. Twelve companies have submitted their interest to build the terminal, said two officials from Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co.
The companies include Japan’s Mitsui, South Korean utility KOGAS, and a consortium led by Summit Corp, a unit of Bangladesh’s Summit Group, the officials said. Japan’s Mitsubishi and JERA Co, the world’s largest LNG buyer, are minority stakeholders in the Summit consortium.
India’s Petronet LNG and a French company have also submitted their interest, a person familiar with the matter said. The person, who didn’t identify the French company by name, spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with media.
Summit declined to comment, while the South Korean and Japanese companies were not immediately available for comment. Petronet could not be reached before office hours. A committee will evaluate the proposals and create a shortlist based on the capabilities and technical assessments of the 12 companies, one of the officials said.
It could take more than a year to complete and award the contract for the terminal, the official said. The expressions of interest were initially due on March 20, but the closing date was delayed to this week after the companies requested more time.
