Dhaka (Platts)--28Nov2012/531 am EST/1031 GMT

Bangladesh is now targeting for a 2015 startup of the country's first floating LNG import facility, two years later than the original 2013 target, due to failed negotiations with Astra Oil and Excelerate Energy -- the US consortium picked as the project's contractor in August.

The country's LNG taskforce in a meeting Tuesday also decided to start negotiations, bypassing the tendering process, with the other three short-listed companies that had earlier submitted bids to build the facility, a top official with state-run Petrobangla told Platts Wednesday. These are Bermuda-based Golar LNG Energy, South Korea's Samsung C&T and India's Hiranandani Electricity, said Petrobangla Chairman Hussain Monsur.

"Petrobangla will select a firm from the shortlisted global firms and give a work order it within the next three months," the Prime Minister's Adviser on energy issues, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, told reporters after the meeting. He added that the project's implementation period has also been extended to 24 months from the previous 18 months.

"We shall invite the shortlisted firms shortly to start negotiation for building the LNG terminal as quickly as possible," Monsur said.

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Negotiations with Astra and Excelerate failed due to a misunderstanding over bids submitted by the consortium, Platts reported earlier.

The consortium quoted a processing fee of $0.39/Mcf to cover installation and processing costs, but subsequently said its quote did not include the installation of subsea and onshore pipelines, Monsur said Monday. It also sought an engineering, procurement and construction contract fee and credit support.

Petrobangla had sought an explanation from the consortium but it did not provide a satisfactory response, Monsur said Wednesday.

Bangladesh is planning a floating LNG import terminal with a capacity to handle 5 million mt/year of LNG, regasification capacity of at least 500,000 Mcf/d, and berthing and mooring facilities for LNG ships with a capacity of 138,000-260,000 cubic meters. The facility will be located at Moheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal.

Petrobangla is looking to contract the project on a build-own-operate-transfer basis for 15 years.

--M Azizur Rahman, newsdesk@platts.com --Edited by Deepa Vijiyasingam, deepa_vijiyasingam@platts.com

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