Bangladesh negotiating LNG supplies with Azerbaijan

Bangladesh and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) are discussing supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Bangladesh's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Iqbal Hasan Mahmud said during the 31st Baku Energy Forum, according to Report.

The Minister noted that the new Cabinet of Ministers took office in February this year.

"We immediately began the fight against corruption. We have a huge number of tasks ahead of us. Then the crisis broke out, and we found ourselves in an extremely difficult situation. The only available option for us was to turn to the spot market. However, as is known, spot prices are extremely high. This created a serious burden on our foreign exchange reserves. In this regard, we are looking for alternative sources of supply, primarily those that can help avoid sharp price fluctuations. We already have certain promising contacts in place. In particular, we signed an agreement with SOCAR for the purchase of gasoline, and we are also negotiating LNG supplies, since our country"s demand for liquefied natural gas is quite significant," said Iqbal Hasan Mahmud.

He added that Bangladesh has its own gas reserves, but they are not sufficient to meet domestic demand and ensure power generation.

"In this regard, we also intend to actively develop solar energy. In addition, we have begun geological exploration work-tenders have been announced for offshore and onshore blocks. I believe companies will show interest, and we will be able to start developing the fields, although this will take some time," Mahmud added.