Bangladesh plans to buy nine cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market for the second half of the year, an official from state-owned Petrobangla said, as the South Asian nation seeks to secure supply of the fuel to meet power demand.
For the second half of the year, Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL), a subsidiary of state-owned Petrobangla, has so far issued a tender seeking two cargoes for delivery on July 10-11 and July 23-24, the official and industry sources said on Thursday. The tender closed on 11 June.
Tasked to import LNG for the country, Petrobangla has been tapping the market for spot imports since February, reversing a government decision last year to halt spot purchases after prices spiked following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Asian LNG prices LNG-AS have since eased from their record highs, enabling Asian buyers like Bangladesh to afford spot purchases.
An energy adviser to the prime minister said earlier this year that Bangladesh aims to buy up to 12 LNG cargoes in the first half of the year, including four that were awarded in June.
Two of the June cargoes were awarded to Vitol at $10.98 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) and $11.88/mmBtu for deliveries in 1-2 June and 14-15 June respectively, according to industry sources.
The other two cargoes were awarded to Gunvor at $12.47/mmBtu for delivery in 8-9 June, and to Excelerate Energy at $12.19/mmBtu for 23-24 June delivery.
Vitol, Gunvor and Excelerate Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
