Repaired Summit LNG terminal en route to Bangladesh, due 13 July

Summit LNG terminal, damaged by Cyclone Remal, has left Singapore after repairs and is expected to arrive in Bangladesh on 13 July, with full operations resuming by 17 July, according to Petrobangla sources.

"The floating storage ballast tank departed from Singapore on 6 July and will take another 5 to 6 days to reach Bangladesh. It will take an additional 3 days to land and commission. In total, it will take around 9 to 10 days," Petrobangla Director (Operations and Mines) Kamruzzaman Khan told The Business Standard.

He added that the majority of the delay was due to the travel time of the terminal rather than repairs. He expects it will contribute significantly to alleviating the ongoing gas shortage once operational.

The damage, caused by a broken pontoon during Cyclone Remal on 27 May, halted gas supplies from one of the two floating LNG terminals in the Bay of Bengal, leading to a severe gas crisis nationwide.

This disruption affected industries, residential areas, power plants, and CNG filling stations, resulting in long lines at CNG stations due to low gas pressure.

The normal LNG supply is approximately 1,100 million cubic feet per day, but it has dropped below 700 million cubic feet in recent days. The closure of the terminal has reduced LNG supply to the national grid by 400 million cubic feet, exacerbating the gas shortage.

Two terminals in Cox's Bazar's Maheshkhali, operated by Summit Group and US-based Excelerate Energy, have a capacity of 1,100 million cubic feet jointly.

Normally, over 1,050 million cubic feet of gas is supplied to the national grid from these terminals. However, with a demand of 4,000 million cubic feet, the total supply, including domestic production, is around 2,600 million cubic feet, leading to a regular shortfall of 1,000 to 1,500 million cubic feet.

The shutdown has also impacted gas-based power plants, reducing electricity production by approximately 1,500 megawatts.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association President Mohammad Ali Khokon told TBS, "I received several calls from our member industries located in Mymensingh, Gazipur, and Narayanganj about the ongoing gas crisis. How can we survive if the industry does not get an adequate supply of gas?"

Gas-based industries, including those in spinning, dyeing, printing, cement, ceramics, and iron and steel, have seen production drop below 30% due to the gas shortage.

Approximately 700 textile factories under the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association are experiencing severe disruptions. Despite the approved gas pressure in factories being 10 to 15 pounds per square inch (PSI), it has been between 0 and 2 PSI for the past month.

KM Selim, general manager (accounts and finance) of Modhumoti Tiles Limited in Savar, reported that they had to shut down their factory on 1 June due to the gas shortage.

"To keep the factory running, we need a minimum gas pressure of 8 to 9 PSI. But the pressure has dropped to 0.5 PSI since Cyclone Remal," he said.

The company, which employs around 400 workers, is now incurring a loss of at least Tk6 lakh daily due to the closure.

This is not the first time gas supply from floating terminals has been disrupted by a disaster. On 12 May last year, supplies from the two floating storage units were suspended due to safety concerns during Cyclone Mocha, causing a severe gas shortage in various regions, including Chattogram.

Experts underscore that for a long-term solution, Bangladesh must build land-based LNG terminals. Floating storage units are temporary fixes and cannot be a sustainable long-term solution.

Petrobangla Chairman Janendra Nath Sarkar commented, "We had plans for a land-based terminal since 2017. It will be in Matarbari. However, the Ministry of Shipping has yet to create that channel. Their plan is for 2030 or 2031. We have requested that the channel be ready by 2027 or 2028. If the Ministry of Shipping and Chattogram Port Authority can prepare the channel by 2029, we can proceed with the contract."