Bad weather in the Bay of Bengal has disrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) transfer operations at floating terminals in Maheshkhali on Thursday, cutting Bangladesh’s regasified LNG (RLNG) supply by around 40 per cent and reducing overall gas availability.
Petrobangla said the disruption occurred as imported LNG cargo could not be transferred to floating storage and regasification units due to adverse weather conditions.
The reduced RLNG supply lowered total gas availability to 2,212 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) as of 8pm on Thursday, down from 2,591 mmcfd on Monday.
RLNG supply fell to 593 mmcfd on Thursday evening from 1,003 mmcfd three days earlier, while domestic gas supply remained relatively stable at 1,619 mmcfd, compared with 1,588 mmcfd on Monday.
At 6pm on Thursday, total gas supply stood at 2,301 mmcfd, with RLNG contributing 686 mmcfd and domestic sources supplying 1,615 mmcfd.
Petrobangla said the temporary decline in gas supply was caused by unavoidable operational disruptions.
The state-owned gas company said supply conditions would return to normal as soon as weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal improve and LNG transfer operations resume.
Bangladesh currently receives RLNG from two floating LNG terminals located in Maheshkhali, which play a key role in meeting industrial, power and household gas demand.
Any RLNG disruption leaves factories and households in an acute gas crisis as the national demand is estimated to be around 3800 mmcfd.
