Bangladesh's new LNG import terminal begins to feed gas to domestic grid

SINGAPORE/DHAKA: Bangladesh's second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal has started to feed gas to the national grid after completing commissioning late on Monday, the terminal's operator said.

Summit LNG Terminal completed the commissioning of its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) known as 'Summit LNG' late on Monday, about one month ahead of schedule, Singapore-based Summit Power International said in a statement.

The FSRU is 75 percent owned by Summit Corp, a unit of Summit Power International, and the remaining by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp.

About 503 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas is flowing from the FSRU - which is able to regasify 500 mmcfd of LNG - into the national grid, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Summit Power International, which owns power generation assets in Bangladesh and is owned by Bangladeshi conglomerate Summit Group, has chartered the vessel from US based Excelerate Energy for 15 years.

"The process of feeding the gas from Summit FSRU to the national grid has started," Nasrul Hamid, Bangladesh's state minister for energy and power, told Reuters.

"This is a huge achievement for our country's energy security... We are taking more initiatives, including onshore and offshore gas exploration, to help feed the expanding economy."

About 3.75 million tonnes a year of LNG are expected to be imported through the facility, doubling the country's LNG import capacity to 7.5 million tonnes per year once fully operational.