Bangladesh to send delegation to Brunei for importing LNG: Nasrul

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Friday said the government is preparing to send a delegation to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Brunei Darussalam in its effort to tackle the ongoing energy crisis in Bangladesh.

“We are waiting for the invitation of the Brunei government. The delegation will discuss with the Brunei authorities how to import LNG under a long-term contract with a cheaper price,” he told reporters at his residence in Dhaka.

In October, during the visit of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah to Bangladesh, Brunei offered to supply LNG under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries.

Nasrul also said that he had a discussion with Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Bangladesh Issa Bin Youssef Al-Dahilan at the ministry on Thursday.

During the meeting, they discussed various issues related to mutual interest and also possible solutions to the energy crisis in the country.

“A Saudi minister will visit Bangladesh soon. Then we will discuss on import of LNG from Saudi Arabia in 2028-29. Besides, the Saudi authorities want to make a huge investment in Bangladesh. An MoU on 1,000MW electricity generation is likely to be signed between Dhaka and Riyadh.”

While talking about the ongoing gas crisis in industry, household and power sector, the state minister said, “Hopefully, we will get 100-110 million cubic feet of gas per day by next year. It would meet at least 10 percent of gas deficit in the power sector.”

In another context, he said Bangladesh did not discuss with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the price hikes of oil, gas and electricity, rather it discussed the pricing method of energy products.

Nasrul said there were two bidding rounds for extracting gas from the offshore area. “We will call an international tender by December-January.”