Qatar turns down plea for more LNG supply  

Qatar has rejected Bangladesh's plea for additional supply of LNG to meet its ongoing energy crisis as Bangladesh has desperately been looking for primary fuel at a cheaper rate.
"Qatar agreed to increase LNG supply from 2025, Bangladesh can get additional 2 million ton per annum (MTPA) of LNG from that time," Petrobangla Chairman Nazmul Ahsan made
it clear.
According to him the oil rich gulf country did not agree to Bangladesh's request to immediately increase the supply. If Bangladesh wants to import more LNG from Qatar then Bangladesh to negotiate the rate and other terms and conditions once again, he hinted.
Earlier, the government sent two Ministers to Qatar to negotiate the issue, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam separately visited Qatar with the request in March 2022 and this month to urge the Qatar to address Bangladesh's plea at this crucial moment when its industrial sector is suffering from energy supply crunch.
However, as follow-up of the State-Minister' meetings, the Petrobangla team, led by its Chairman, visited Qatar recently and held a meeting with the LNG supply company to increase the supply. They straightly turned down the plea.  
In March 2022 Nasrul Hamid met with Qatar's State Minister for Energy Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, in Doha to place a request to increase the supply. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has made the same request to his Qatari counterpart Soltan bin Saad Al- Muraikhi during a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar first week of this month and urged him to address Bangladesh's plea.
In separate meetings both the State Ministers proposed that Bangladesh wants to import an additional 1 million tonnes of LNG per annum (MTPA) from Qatar, which could be implemented by the middle of 2022 through a side letter agreement. Bangladesh is keen to import more LNG in line with the existing LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Qatar.
That time the Qatari Minister Soltan bin Saad Al- Muraikhi informed that the Emir of Qatar may undertake a visit to Bangladesh next year, and may take a decision in this regard, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
Bangladesh has been importing LNG from Qatar since 2018 under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on January 16 in 2011, between the Ministry of Energy and Industry of Qatar and the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh.
Following the MoU, a 15-year LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) was signed on September 25 in 2017 to supply 1.8-2.5 million tonnes (MTPA) of LNG annually.
Petrobangla has purchased 8.424 million tonnes of LNG through 137 cargoes till January 2022 from Qatar. Bangladesh is also importing LNG from Oman from 2018 under separate long-term contracts.
The LNG price skyrocketed to US $70 per MMBtu before coming down to current price of around $37 per MMBtu since February, following the Russian-Ukraine war, to manage the situation, Bangladesh moved to raise import of LNG under long-term contracts.
Bangladesh suspended import of LNG from international sport market in July this year due to the price escalation. It also announced staggered holidays for area-based industries from August to minimise consumption of both natural gas and electricity that pushes the country into a server power crisis and energy shortages in industrial sector.