Exxon-Qatar venture among 12 companies vying for Bangladesh LNG project

A joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corp is among 12 firms that have indicated interest in building Bangladesh's first onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, according to an official document reviewed by Reuters.

Also on the list of firms that have submitted formal expressions of interest are units of Shell, France's Total and South Korea's Samsung, as well as major Japanese trading houses.

The broad interest underlines how builders of major new projects are looking for potential buyers like Banglesdesh to mop up a significant long-term surplus expected in the LNG market.

Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co, part of state-owned oil and gas company Petrobangla, earlier this year had requested expressions of interest (EOI) from potential terminal developers for a land-based LNG regasification terminal at Matarbari in the Cox's Bazar district of southern Bangladesh.

The expression of interest is for the design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of an onshore terminal that can handle 7.5 million tons a year of LNG, including receiving, unloading, storage and regasification.

Qatar Petroleum and Exxon earlier this year made a final investment decision to build the $10 billion Golden Pass LNG export terminal in the United States and will need to secure buyers for the gas. Another company on the list is Poly-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings, an overseas umbrella of China's privately-owned GCL Group Holding which operates at least three power plants in China.

GCL had also planned an LNG export project in the African country of Djibouti, as well as a LNG receiving terminal in east China.

The Bangladesh project is on a build-own-operate basis for 20 years, with ownership to then be transferred at no cost to the Bangladeshi government, or a company nominated by the government.

A committee is expected to evaluate the proposals before shortlisting a few and it could take more than a year to complete and award the contract for the terminal.

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