Bangladesh's gas supply has come under renewed strain after a technical problem at one of the country's floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals led to a partial shutdown in operations, removing about 450 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from the national grid, officials said.
The disruption occurred at the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) operated by US-based Excelerate Energy near Moheshkhali during a ship-to-ship LNG transfer operation on Tuesday.
State-owned Petrobangla said engineers were working to fix the fault, but warned it could take as long as two days before the terminal resumed normal operations. Excelerate Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside its business hours.
The loss of supply is expected to worsen shortages for households and industries already grappling with inadequate gas availability.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has already tightened global LNG supplies, with attacks affecting some of Qatar's export capacity and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting force majeure declarations by QatarEnergy and pushing up Asian spot prices.
The Moheshkhali terminal is one of two floating LNG facilities that underpin Bangladesh's imported gas supply. Together, the two units can regasify up to 1,100 mmcfd of gas, making them a key part of the country's energy infrastructure.
Bangladesh consumes an estimated 3,800 to 4,000 mmcfd of gas each day, but supplies to the grid typically hover around 2,600 mmcfd, leaving a gap of as much as 1,400 mmcfd.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Kate Mayberry)