Bangladesh to buy spot LNG cargoes via open tender, officials say
DHAKA, Sept 5 (Reuters) -Bangladesh plans to purchase spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the international market through an open tender rather than a private tender, two Petrobangla officials said on Thursday.
One of the officials said that bidders would previously submit their price quotes via email or an internal application on short notice, and the contract would be awarded to the lowest bidder. The other said the switch was to make the process more transparent.
"Now, the process will follow public procurement rules, which will take longer than the previous method for importing LNG," said one of the officials, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
"It will take about seven to 14 days to receive price quotes after the tender notification is made public."
The official did not say when the open tender process would begin.
Public procurement, in which prices and the party awarded the tender are made public, is not common in Asia, with only Pakistan and a private importer in the Philippines partially following such a procedure.
Bangladesh relies on LNG to meet power demand to sustain its population of over 170 million people. Apart from spot purchases, it is currently importing LNG via two long-term contracts, via a supply deal with Qatar for 2.5 million tons per annum (mtpa), and Oman for 1 mtpa.
The country began importing LNG on a spot basis four years ago, with Vitol providing the South Asian nation its first spot cargo in September 2020.
It shipped in 5.2 million metric tons of LNG last year, according to Kpler data.
Reporting by Ruma Paul in Dhaka
Writing by Emily Chow in Singapore
Editing by David Goodman and Sharon Singleton
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