LNG supply bottleneck now over

Desk Report: People of Chittagong could be using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) this week as the authorities have finally been able to pump the imported LNG, on a ship anchored in the Bay, into the Matarbari reservoir in Moheshkhali through an undersea pipeline, reports The Daily Star.
An official of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) said the LNG might be supplied to Chittagong on Thursday through the 91km undersea pipeline of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd (KGDCL) linked with the grid in Chittagong’s Anwara.
The government high-ups may inaugurate this formally on the day after a delay of three months due to adverse weather and technical glitches.
Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, told The Daily Star yesterday that the gas had already arrived at Matarbari land terminal and gas pressure was being tested. He said if everything went well, the gas would be supplied to the pipeline.
The RPGCL official said the LNG was taken to the Matarbari reservoir from the base station in the Bay of Bengal through the undersea pipeline on Sunday. The ship carrying Bangladesh’s first imported consignment of 1.37 lakh cubic feet LNG from Qatar anchored in the Bay of Bengal on April 24. Since then several deadlines were fixed for transmitting the LNG to pipeline, but it did not happen as various faults in the pipeline, which will bring the LNG from the ship to land depot, were detected.
On August 8, Hamid said the imported LNG could not be supplied to the transmission line due to adverse weather and some technical problems. “At the end of the year, we hope to give uninterrupted gas supply.”