UAE keen to set up land-based LNG terminal in BD

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has shown an expression of interest (EoI) to establish a land- based Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal in Bangladesh.
In a letter on September 16, UAE based Emirates National Oil Company Limited (ENOC) has shown the interest to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) mentioning that they (ENOC) are keen to establish the terminal on unsolicited basis in collaboration with Global LPG Ptc Ltd.
Earlier, ENOC Managing  Director Yusr Sultan Al Junaidy had shown the interest in a meeting with the State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid in this regard.
Bangladesh is expected to consume 1000mmcfd of LNG gas by the middle of 2019.
Presently, LPG is mainly used by households for cooking and by some light engineering workshops as fuel for wielding. LPG demand is growing due to unavailability of fresh household gas connection. However, the LPG demand in local market is only 2 per cent of total oil demand and less than 0.01 per cent of the total energy demand.
"LPG demand is expected to grow significantly as the government plans to generate electricity through alternative means and sign MoUs with some companies, including Beximco Limited, a concern of leading business conglomerate, to set up the country's first ever Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)-based power plant to generate 150MW of electricity," a senior official of the Power Division said.
The official said on Friday that UAE State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash has also expressed interest to invest more in Bangladesh, considering the potential economic opportunities in the country during a meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on the margins of the ongoing 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
According to the official, Dhaka and New Delhi signed an agreement to set up a LPG handling plant in Chittagong to meet the growing energy demand in Bangladesh and north-eastern India, In 2017, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and BPC inked a memorandum of understanding in this regard. Under the agreement, the two companies would form a joint venture to set up the LPG plant and terminal with a 50:50 ownership. However, it would be a same one, the official said.
During the meeting with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, the UAE Minister sought cooperation of the government of Bangladesh in getting lands for establishing an exclusive economic zone for the UAE companies, the official said.
The Dubai-based ENOC Group comprises more than 30 related subsidiaries in oil exploration and production, refining, terminalling, downstream marketing, industrial products, lubricants, aviation and LNG trading, according to the EoI submitted to the minister.
Emirates National Oil Company Group (ENOC) is a leading integrated global oil and gas player operating across the energy sector value chain. A wholly owned company of the Government of Dubai, ENOC was initially established in 1993.