State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has decided to set up a dedicated liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) terminal at Matarbari deep sea port in order to meet the growing energy needs of the country.
At present, the country consumes about 1 million MT of LPG annually. The figure was 47,000 MT in 2009, and projected to reach 2.5 million MT by 2025.
Three international consortiums, led by two Japanese companies, have already shown interest to set up LPG terminal and submitted separate proposals to BPC and also to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
One consortium is led by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co Ltd, in which Korean company SK Gas and local East Coast Group are also collobatoring, while the other two consortiums are- one led by Japanese company Marubeni Corporation and the other led by Sumitomo Corporation.
The Netherlands-based Vitol Energy is part of the Marubeni-led consortium while Chungko Electric Power Co Inc is the partner of Sumitomo Corporation.
Mitsui Group has been one of the largest business groups in Japan having worldwide businesses in energy and infrastructure, while SK Group is the third largest conglomerate in South Korea owning and operating deep sea LPG terminals and big LPG carriers like VLGCs. The East Cast Group has 35 years of experience in the downstream petroleum sector, including LPG in Bangladesh.
