RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) sealed a landmark 15-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla). The agreement was signed in Doha by Mr. Hamad Mubarak Al-Muhannadi, CEO of RasGas, and Mr. Abdul Mansur Md Faizullah, Petrobangla Chairman.

The event was attended by H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry, the honourable Bangladesh State Minister Nasrul Hamid, H.E. Mr. Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, and Mr. Syed Ashfaquzzaman, Secretary of Petrobangla.

During the event, Mr. Al Muhannadi, outlined the size and duration of the agreement, which will see the Qatari energy giant supplying 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum to Petrobangla for 15 years.  

Deliveries will be to Petrobangla’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) near Moheshkhali Island in Bangladesh, marking RasGas’ first long term contract delivered to a FSRU.

The agreement with Petrobangla asserts RasGas’ continued commitment to ensuring energy security to its customers in Asia, as well as its position as a reliable supplier of LNG, a cleaner, more efficient source of energy.

“Reliable access to energy plays a vital role in driving socio-economic growth, and RasGas has fulfilled our promise to safely and reliably provide this access for more than two decades,” said Mr. Al Muhannadi. “Bangladesh has very ambitious growth plans and this landmark partnership between our two countries will support Bangladesh as it strives to achieve its 2021 and 2040 development goals.”

Petrobangla Chairman, Mr. Faizullah confirmed, “Bangladesh, under the visionary stewardship of Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has already ensured sustainable annual growth of above 7%, and we are striving to ensure energy security and a reliable supply of gas to our entrepreneurs. LNG would play a vital role in the growth of the Bangladesh economy, and we are happy to enter into this historic partnership with Qatar, a long-trusted friend.”

Qatar and Bangladesh’s strong economic, political and cultural ties were highlighted by H.E. Dr. Al Sada, who went on to state that the SPA “underscores our commitment to our partnership with Bangladesh, and highlights Qatar’s continued leadership in bringing clean and reliable LNG to new markets and new customers”.

Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar Petroleum President & CEO said “We are very pleased to see the Republic of Bangladesh join the list of countries that benefit from Qatari gas to support their economic growth and development by using the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel. I would like to thank Petrobangla for their confidence in Qatar, and we look forward to working with them to secure Bangladesh’s future needs. This agreement enhances Qatar’s leading position as an LNG provider, and creates broader horizons of growth and development as it moves forward under the wise leadership and guidance of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar.”

-Ends-

About RasGas
RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) is a Qatari joint stock company established in 2001 by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas Inc. RasGas acts as the operating company for and on behalf of the owners of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects RL, RL (II) and RL3 (Project Owners).  With operations facilities based in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, RasGas’ principal activities are to extract, process, liquefy, store and export LNG and its derivatives from Qatar’s North Field. RasGas, on behalf of the Project Owners, exports to countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas. It has a total LNG production capacity of approximately 37 million tonnes per annum.

For pipeline sales gas to the domestic market, RasGas also operates the Al Khaleej Gas Projects, AKG-1 and AKG-2 supplying approximately 2.0 billion standard cubic feet (Bscf) per day.

RasGas currently operates the Ras Laffan Helium Plant which was established in 2003 and came on stream in 2005. The plant extracts, purifies and liquefies helium from the North Field. The second helium plant entered production in June 2013 bringing the total liquid Helium production capacity up to 2.2 Bscf per year. www.rasgas.com

About Petrobangla
Bangladesh Oil and Gas Corporation (BOGC) and Bangladesh Mineral Exploration and Development Corporation (BMEDC) were merged into a single entity under the name “Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (BOGMC) by Ordinance No. 21 of April, 1985. The Corporation was short named “Petrobangla” and given power in Act XI of February, 1989 to hold shares or interest in any company formed for the purpose of exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mineral resources. Petrobangla the flagship organization of the country’s primary energy sector is entrusted with the responsibilities of exploring, developing, producing and marketing natural gas and extracting coal. At present, natural gas accounts for about three-quarters of commercial energy consumption of the country. Along with the traditional role of producing and supplying fuel from the indigenous sources, Petrobangla is set to be an importer and marketer of imported natural gas in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in order to supplement indigenous natural gas to meet the demand. In the year 2015-16, Petrobangla and its companies produced 973 Billion Cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas, which was equivalent to 24.3 million metric tons of oil worth 7.5 billion US dollars. Besides, about 4.1 million barrels of condensate was extracted from natural gas this year. Petrobangla also produced 1.1 million tons of coal. Petrobangla and companies under its umbrella provided fuels worth around   UD$ 7.78 billion in aggregate to the energy basket of the country in FY 2015-16. A number of renowned IOC’s are engaged in petroleum operations under PSC. For more information, visit www.petrobangla.org.bd.

© Press Release 2017