Restarting Summit’s damaged LNG terminal to be delayed: Report
Summit Group Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan said the facility will be 'coming into operations soon'
Summit LNG Terminal will not be able to restart its floating storage and regasification unit for several more weeks after uncovering damage to an underwater gas transmission pipeline in Cox's Bazar's Maheshkhali, according to a report of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
In the report published on Tuesday, it quoted Rafiqul Islam, the managing director of state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co Ltd.
The Summit Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) is one of Bangladesh's two LNG import facilities and was previously expected to restart around 8 August after divers attempted to conduct repairs in the middle of bad weather, strong winds and large waves in the Bay of Bengal.
Speaking to S&P, Rafiqul said Summit LNG has encountered fresh delays in resuming operations after Singapore-based service providers traced the damage to the disconnectable turret mooring plug located in the subsea landing pad through which it holds the FSRU.
In addition to bad weather conditions, Summit Group, which operates Summit LNG Terminal, has also faced delays due to the country's political turmoil, a senior Petrobangla official told S&P.
He said it could take all of August or several weeks more to repair the damage.
Summit is yet to announce a new date for resuming LNG regasification, with Summit Group Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan saying the facility will be "coming into operations soon".
Bangladesh is unlikely to float any fresh spot LNG tender until Summit's FSRU comes online, he was also quoted as saying.