Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh will stop buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market for the rest of 2025, as the government shifts fully to long-term contracts to meet demand. The country has already secured its final spot cargo for late December, a senior Petrobangla official said.
The move follows a year of unusually high spot purchases—around four dozen cargoes—driven by volatile global prices and rising domestic consumption. Petrobangla expects its dependence on spot imports to shrink sharply from 2026 as new long-term agreements come into force.
Officials say the pivot will stabilise supply, improve price predictability and support Bangladesh’s fast-growing LNG needs over the next two decades. Imports under long-term sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) are expected to jump more than 53% in 2026, reaching 86 cargoes, up from 56 this year. Spot purchases, by contrast, are set to fall more than 38%.
The additional LNG will come from newly signed SPAs with QatarEnergy, Oman’s OQ Trading and US-based Excelerate Energy, alongside existing suppliers. Qatar has been delivering around 40 cargoes annually, with Oman providing 16. The rest has come from spot and short-term deals.
Between June 2023 and June 2024, Petrobangla signed four long-term contracts to meet rising demand for regasified LNG through 2041. These were executed under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act, which allows direct negotiations.
Under the SPAs, prices range from 13.20% to 13.50% of the three-month average Brent crude benchmark, plus a constant of 0.40–0.50 US cents per MMBtu.
From January 2026, Petrobangla will begin lifting up to 1.0 MTPA from Excelerate Energy under a 15-year deal, and up to 1.8 MTPA from QatarEnergy under another 15-year agreement. Oman’s OQ Trading will supply up to 1.5 MTPA for 10 years beginning in 2026.
An SPA with Summit Oil & Shipping Company Ltd, signed in June 2024 for 1.5 MTPA over 15 years, has since been cancelled.
Bangladesh currently buys LNG from Qatargas at 12.65% of Brent plus 0.40 US cents per MMBtu, and from OQ Trading at 11.90% plus 0.50 US cents.
Official data show the country’s regasification capacity is nearly maxed out, reaching around 1,053 mmcfd. The two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) are running at about 95% of their combined 1,100 mmcfd capacity. Excelerate Energy’s unit can process 600 mmcfd, while Summit Group’s handles 500 mmcfd.
Full utilisation would allow Bangladesh to import up to 115 cargoes annually. In 2025, Petrobangla brought in a record 108 cargoes and plans to increase that figure as demand grows, particularly from fertiliser factories. Since early June, the country has been regasifying more than 1,000 mmcfd after securing six extra cargoes to boost industrial supply.
