DOHA: Qatar has signed a deal with US-based Excelerate Energy to supply Bangladesh with natural gas for 15 years, state-owned QatarEnergy said Monday. Doha will supply Excelerate with one million tons of liquified natural gas (LNG) a year to be delivered to floating storage units in Bangladesh over the 15-year period starting in January 2026.

The agreement follows a flurry of announcements for Qatari gas supply deals with China’s Sinopec, France’s Total, Britain’s Shell and Italy’s Eni, all announced last year. Those deals, lasting 27 years, are the longest agreed in the history of the industry. “We are pleased to sign this agreement with Excelerate for the supply of up to one million tons per annum of LNG to Bangladesh,” Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said in a statement.

“This new agreement will further strengthen our relationship with Excelerate while also supporting the energy requirements of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and its stride towards greater economic development,” added Kaabi, who is also chief executive of QatarEnergy. Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea are the main market for Qatar’s gas, which has been increasingly sought by European countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In June, QatarEnergy signed a deal with Bangladesh’s state-owned energy company Petrobangla to supply 1.5 million tons of LNG annually for 15 years. Qatar is one of the world’s top LNG producers, alongside the United States, Australia and Russia. It is the largest natural gas supplier to Bangladesh. – AFP