Bangladesh has delayed two LNG shipments as measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic hampered domestic demand for natural gas. Md Kamruzzaman, the managing director at state-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd said both cargoes with the capacity of 138,000 cubic metres were from QatarGas for May loading.
The shipments were rescheduled to September and December when domestic consumption is expected to improve. The country’s shutdown, which lasted until May 30, affected air, rail, as well as private and public transportation. Gas-based industries and factories were also closed amid the lockdown.
Gas-guzzling power plants remained operational, but electricity demand declined by around 30% to about 7,000 MW, according to the Bangladesh Power Development Board. The International Energy Agency said Bangladesh’s power sector accounted for more than half of the country’s natural gas demand.
Natural gas demand had dropped by about one-third to 2.13 Bcfd last month, but state-run Petrobangla maintained regasification of LNG at around 600,000 Mcfd during most of the lockdown period, relatively unchanged from the pre-lockdown period. The current regasification rate has declined to approximately 500,000 Mcfd.
In March, Bangladesh completed the construction of the Chattogram-Feni-Bakhrabad gas transmission natural gas pipeline. This 181-km pipeline is expected to double the country’s regasification capacity from the current 500,000 Mcfd.
