To meet the country's urgent gas demand, the government is set to purchase 18 cargoes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from TotalEnergies through direct procurement.

The shipments will be imported from October through June 2027.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs granted in-principle approval to the procurement proposal on Wednesday, September 9.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division submitted the proposal to the committee.

Under the approved plan, Bangladesh will import two LNG cargoes per month from October 2026 to June 2027.

The agreement will also include a provision allowing the purchase of additional LNG cargoes through mutual consent if required.

This decision to import LNG on an emergency basis via direct procurement was driven by unstable geopolitical conditions and energy security concerns stemming from ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

The meeting recommended approving the proposal to directly purchase LNG from TotalEnergies.

The unit price for the LNG is proposed to be set by adding $0.06 to the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) international energy market price.

Separately, proposals were submitted to purchase diesel, Jet A-1, and furnace oil in five packages through international open tenders for the period between September and December 2026.

The total estimated cost for these packages is approximately Tk 11,914 crore.

However, final procurement approval was not granted for any of the five packages.

The committee instructed that discussions be held with the recommended firms regarding the proposed markups and base prices to finalize the rates, with the outcome to be presented at the next meeting.