Global liquefied natural gas suppliers have lined up to offer Bangladesh short- and medium-term contracts after several of the country’s long-term providers declared force majeure in March. The non-delivery, attributed to the US-Iran war and disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, forced the nation to rely entirely on the volatile spot market. This shift has driven costs up nearly threefold and strained the energy budget.
New supply proposals
State-run Petrobangla and its subsidiary Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) are now in talks with multiple trading houses. Trafigura, TotalEnergies Gas & Power, and BP Singapore have already submitted proposals to deliver cargoes between late 2026 and mid-2027, according to a senior Petrobangla official.
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The offers include specific pricing formulas. Trafigura proposes 16 cargoes between November 2026 and December 2027 at Platts’s JKM plus $0.05 per million British thermal unit. BP Singapore offered two monthly cargoes from December 2026 to June 2027 at Platts’s JKM plus $0.055 per MMBtu. TotalEnergies is offering 18 cargoes between October 2026 and June 2027 under both Henry Hub and JKM pricing formulas, ranging from 115 per cent of Henry Hub plus $18.70 to JKM plus $0.06 per MMBtu.
Expanding the supply base
The government previously awarded a short-term deal to TotalEnergies for 18 monthly cargoes at Platts JKM plus 6.0 cents per MMBtu. The country also awarded a total of 117 LNG cargoes to Gunvor USA LLC for delivery over the next 12 years by 2038. Gunvor will provide 14 cargoes from 2026 to 2028 at JKM plus $0.0875 per MMBtu and the remaining 100 cargoes from 2029 to 2038 at 121 per cent of Henry Hub plus $5.20 per MMBtu. All deliveries are scheduled for Moheshkhali Island, with an option to discharge to either of two floating storage re-gasification units.
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These agreements follow a period of severe strain on the national energy system. Bangladesh imported 49 spot cargoes in 2025 and approximately 50 more until September to offset restricted supplies from the Middle East. The government has been rationing gas to industries and households to manage a supply deficit that saw daily natural gas demand hit 4,000 million cubic feet per day against a supply of about 2.576 billion cubic feet per day.
The country’s overall natural gas supply was about 2.576 billion cubic feet per day on September 22, with 981 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of regasified LNG, according to official Petrobangla data. This total supply includes the 981 million cubic feet per day derived from regasified LNG, which has become a critical component of the energy mix. The volume of the approved LNG cargo is about 3.36 million MMBtu each, representing a substantial unit of energy for these contracts. To cope with this shortage, Petrobangla is rationing gas supplies to industries, plants, and other consumers to ensure basic needs are met.
