Bangladesh will going to sign an initial agreement in end-May with the US consortium comprising Astra Oil and Excelerate Energy for building the country’s first LNG import terminal at Moheshkhali Island.
Top officials from Petrobangla and Bangladesh’s Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, and representatives from the US consortium met in Dhaka 8th may to resolve almost all issues regarding the contract.
The Astra Oil and Excelerate Energy consortium was selected to build the terminal in August 2012, After a long delay in implementation Petrobangla in February invited the US consortium to finalize the contract. but the US companies wanted to reach an agreement on maintenance fees before signing the final construction deal.
The fee would cover the cost of maintaining a terminal on its completion in the event there is delay in LNG imports, said a Petrobangla official. The consortium sought $0.39 per Mcf (1,000 cubic feet) as a processing fee to cover installation costs and engineering, procurement and construction contract fee.It also agreed to pay a $2 million bid bond and a penalty if it failed to provide the required services and to furnish a $20 million performance guarantee, he said. Petrobangla has now agreed to provide maintenance fees to keep the proposed LNG terminal operative until imports start, he also said.
Petrobangla is planning a floating LNG import terminal with a capacity to handle 5 million tonnes per year of LNG and a regasification capacity of at least 500 mmcfd.