Gas supply resumes from Excelerate terminal after three days

Officials of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) have said gas supply to the national grid from the floating LNG terminal of Excelerate Energy in Moheshkhali of Cox’s Bazar has resumed after remaining closed for three days. Gas supply from the terminal increased by 106 million cubic feet between noon and evening on Saturday (August 22). A new LNG cargo also berthed at the terminal the same day at noon.

RPGCL officials said gas supply to the national grid was started from noon on Saturday using the LNG previously stored at the terminal. It may take until 10pm for gas unloading to start from the new cargo.

According to Petrobangla data, 581 million cubic feet of gas was being supplied daily from the country’s two floating LNG terminals at 12pm on Saturday. At 6pm it rose to 687 million cubic feet. That means LNG supply increased by 106 million cubic feet in six hours.

At the same time, supply from domestic gas fields rose from 1,621 million to 1,624 million cubic feet. Total supply combining domestic gas and LNG was 2,202 million cubic feet at noon. In the evening it reached 2,311 million cubic feet.

The country’s daily gas demand is about 3,800 million cubic feet. Accordingly, about 60.8 per cent of the demand could be supplied in the evening on Saturday. The deficit was about 1,489 million cubic feet.

Earlier, gas supply to the national grid from the Excelerate terminal was stopped after noon last Wednesday. It was then informed that the situation had arisen as the stock of supplyable LNG at the terminal had run out. As a result, only about 560 to 570 million cubic feet of gas was being supplied daily from Summit’s floating terminal. This further increased the gas crisis, affecting electricity generation and industrial factories.

Although a new LNG cargo berthed at the Excelerate terminal at noon on Saturday, gas unloading from it did not start until the evening. RPGCL officials said gas unloading from the new cargo may start around 10pm.

A senior official of Petrobangla said gas is not being supplied at full capacity at a time from the Excelerate terminal due to the previous problem. Supply is being increased gradually.

Earlier on July 21, about 450 million cubic feet of daily gas supply from the Excelerate terminal was stopped after its electrical cable was damaged by fire. The terminal was partially reopened on August 6 after more than two weeks. After that, gas supply from there fluctuated several times due to technical problems and shortage of LNG cargo.

At present the combined daily supply capacity of the country’s two floating LNG terminals is about 1,100 million cubic feet. Supply in the evening on Saturday was about 62.5 per cent of the capacity.