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Gas supply from the two floating LNG terminals operated by Summit and Excelerate Energy in Maheshkhali has resumed, increasing supplies to the national gas grid and raising hopes that the ongoing gas crisis will ease soon.
According to Petrobangla sources, around 460 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas was supplied from Summit and approximately 300 mmcf from Excelerate on Saturday morning.
Including domestic gas, total supply to the national grid has increased to around 2,400 mmcf per day, up significantly from the level recorded during the disruption.
Excelerate Energy’s terminal was completely shut down on Friday afternoon following a technical problem, causing gas supply to the national grid to fall to around 1,650 mmcf.
The situation improved somewhat several hours later when Summit resumed gas supply at around 6:10pm. It initially supplied about 110 mmcf, but the volume gradually increased throughout the night.
Excelerate’s terminal also resumed supply later that night following repairs. It is currently supplying around 300 mmcf of gas to the national grid.
Together, the two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) are now supplying around 760 mmcf of LNG-derived gas to the national grid.
Despite the improvement, the country continues to face a significant gap between gas demand and supply.
Bangladesh’s daily gas demand is around 4,000 mmcf, while normal supply ranges between 2,600 and 2,700 mmcf. LNG normally accounts for up to around 1,050 mmcf of the total supply.
Maheshkhali has two floating terminals for supplying imported LNG to the national gas grid. Excelerate Energy’s terminal has a capacity of around 600 mmcf per day, while Summit’s terminal can supply up to 500 mmcf per day.
Excelerate’s normal gas supply was disrupted after one of its boilers was damaged in a fire on 21 July.
Limited gas supply from the undamaged boiler resumed on 6 August. However, the terminal was forced to shut down again on Friday afternoon because of a technical problem.
Following repairs, gas supply resumed later that night and has since increased to around 300 mmcf.
However, industry officials believe gas supplies will not return fully to normal until both LNG terminals resume operations at their full capacities.
