Cabinet approves emergency import of eight LNG cargoes, 5,000 tonnes of LPG

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the emergency procurement of eight cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 5,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to strengthen the country's energy security amid growing geopolitical uncertainty and volatility in global fuel supplies.

The approval was granted in principle at a meeting chaired by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury at the Secretariat.

Under the decision, the government will directly purchase eight LNG cargoes—two each from BlackCube International (United Kingdom), Global Fuel Supplies (Australia), Plentitude Energy (Malaysia), and Maxwell International (Oman).

To stabilise domestic LPG supply and prices, the committee also approved the import of 5,000 tonnes of LPG from Speed Marketing Corporation through direct procurement.

The meeting further cleared the government-funded purchase of 200 electric buses for the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC).

The project includes the direct procurement of charging stations and supporting infrastructure alongside the buses.

Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved 17 procurement proposals, including the import of 35,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Russia, the printing and distribution of free textbooks for the 2027 academic year, adjustments to fuel prices for power plants, and the revised project cost for upgrading the Elenga–Hatikumrul–Rangpur highway into a four-lane corridor.

However, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division withdrew three proposals before the meeting, including the proposed Bangladesh Onshore Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) 2026 for onshore oil and gas exploration, as well as two separate proposals related to long-term and short-term LNG imports.