Qatar ‘responded positively’ to a Bangladesh proposal for the supply of liquefied natural gas equivalent to 500 million cubic feet of gas a day.
The Qatari state minister for energy and industrial affairs assured a Bangladesh delegation during a meeting at Doha on Thursday that Qatar would consider actively any Bangladesh proposal for the import LNG, said a member of the six-man delegation, which returned to Dhaka on Saturday.
He said the Qatari minister had suggested the Bangladesh government should submit a concrete proposal on how much LNG the country would import and when.

The delegation informed the Qatari officials that Bangladesh wanted to import LNG equivalent to 500mmcfd of gas initially by specialised LNG tanker, which will transform LNG into gas and unload the gas at a temporary platform in the Bay of Bengal near Maheshkhali.
The delegation, headed by the energy secretary, Md Mesbahuddin, also sought assistance from Doha for the installation of the platform.
Energy officials said a position paper would be sent to the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on the visit to Qatar and Bangladesh would formally submit a proposal for LNG import after on the consent of the prime minister.

Energy officials said the LNG price would be set in keeping with the prices on the international market.
Qatar recently held a negotiation with India for LNG supply at a rate of about $8 a unit. The total supply cost of the LNG will be $12 per unit, which is five to six times higher than the gas price in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh now faces gas shortage of around 300mmcfd as Petrobangla supplies around 1,960–1,980mmcfd of gas against the demand for 2,250mmcfd.