Officials say that Bangladesh will buy LNG spot cargoes through an open tender.

Two Petrobangla officials announced on Thursday that Bangladesh will purchase LNG spot from the international market via an open bid rather than through a private one.

One official said that before, bidders used to submit their price quotes by email or internal application at short notice and the contract was awarded to the lowest-bidder. One official said that the change was made to increase transparency.

The process of importing LNG will now be governed by public procurement rules. This will take more time than before. One official, who refused to identify himself because he wasn't authorized to speak with the media, said: "Now the process will be governed by public procurement rules. It will take more time than before."

After the public announcement of the tender, it will take between seven and fourteen days for price quotes to be received.

Officials did not mention when the public tendering process would start.

In Asia, public procurement is rare. Only Pakistan and one private importer partially follow this procedure, which makes the prices and the person who won the bid public.

Bangladesh's population of more than 170 million relies on LNG for its power needs. In addition to spot purchases, Bangladesh imports LNG through two long-term contracts. It has a deal with Qatar, which provides 2.5 million tons of LNG per year (mtpa), as well as one with Oman, for 1 mtpa.

Vitol will deliver the first LNG spot cargo to South Asia in September 2020.

Kpler data shows that it shipped 5.2 million tons of LNG in the last year.

(source: Reuters)