Staff Reporter :
Aiming to ensure smooth supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Petrobangla is going to make a fresh list of international spot market’s supply companies.
“The tender is ready for circulation in the media and hopefully the notice will be published in the first half of the next week”, Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker told journalists.
In this time an open tender will be floated to make a fresh list of the LNG suppliers through a transparent process, he added.
Since 2019, Bangladesh is importing LNG from the international spot market to meet its growing demands.
As per instruction of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, the Petrobangla and its LNG handling subsidiary Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) invited expressions of interest from the international companies to enlist them with the authorities concerned.
Initially, 17 companies were listed on the basis of the Speedy Increase of Power and Energy Supply Act 2010 and then five more companies were added to the list.
From these companies, Petrobangla has been importing the LNG from the international spot market.
Meanwhile, it was seen that again and again a number of certain companies are getting contracts and dominating the supplying.
These companies include Vitol Asia of Singapore, Total Energies of Switzerland, Excelerate Energy of USA, and Gunvor Singapore.
Among these, there are allegations that some of the companies had business interests with former ministers and state ministers of the fallen Awami League government and also some local business groups.
After the fall of the Awami League government, when the interim government assumed office, it decided to suspend the Speedy Increase of Power and Energy Supply Act 2010 and instead import the LNG from the spot market under the Public Procurement Rule 2008.
The government also decided to scrap the list of the companies soon to bring transparency in the bulk import of LNG.
The government has to spend more than a billion dollars to import the LNG.
The Petrobangla, finally moves to prepare a fresh list of the interested companies through an open and transparent process as part of the government’s decision.