The government had said the situation would improve in winter as the power and gas crisis peaked in summer. Although the situation has improved in case of power supply, the industries and residential consumers continue to experience an acute gas crisis.
A major portion of the power used in the industries is supplied from the gas-run captive power plants. The country has been importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) since 2018 as its domestic production declined. Now the production of gas has dwindled further. At the same time, it is not possible to import LNG as per the demand due to the ongoing dollar crisis.
According to a Prothom Alo report, Some 1,100 million to 1,120 million cubic feet of gas was supplied daily in this sector during the times of highest demand for power which fell to 700 million cubic feet now.
According to Petrobangla, the daily demand of gas in the country is 3,800 million cubic feet.
The daily supply of gas has declined to below 250 cubic feet now.
There are two floating terminals in Maheshkhali of Cox’s Bazar to convert imported LNG for pipeline supplies. Of them, the terminal run by US-based Accelerate Energy has been closed since 1 November. It is supposed to be opened again in the first week of January. The two terminals used to supply some 650 million cubic feet of gas per day together. Now, only the terminal run by the Summit Group is supplying 500 million cubic feet gas daily.
Meanwhile, gas production in the Bibiyana Gas Field, the largest in the country in terms of production, has decreased. However, an alternative system of supplying gas in cylinders to factories in areas adjacent to Dhaka has started. However, that alternative supply is far less than the demand.
In this situation, the production in factories has fallen exponentially. Managing director of Narayanganj-based export oriented company Total Fashion Limited told Prothom Alo that their production has dwindled to one third of their capacity due to the gas crisis.
The number of export oriented garment factories in Narayanganj is more than 800. The number of dying companies is more than three hundred in the area. Gas crisis is prevalent in all of these factories.
The price of gas was raised by 80 per cent on average in January this year. Later, the government raised the price of gas by 179 per cent for industries assuring an uninterrupted gas supply.
Why did the gas crisis intensify even after raising the price? The reason is, misappropriation could not be stopped in the gas sector. There is no plan of action to search for new gas fields. There is one good news amid all this - a new source of oil and gas has been found in Jaintiapur and Gowainghat in Sylhet.
The government’s energy policy is responsible for the ongoing gas crisis, believe the experts. This situation has emerged due to dependency on imported gas rather than augmenting production from domestic sources. The forex reserve crisis has worsened the situation.
We hope the government will take necessary steps to stop the waste in the name of system loss in the gas sector. Alongside this the import of LNG has to be increased as soon as possible. Importing gas is more important than foreign tours of government officials or buying luxury vehicles during this time of dollar crisis.
The people want to see effective steps being taken. Slashing industrial production will not only hike prices but also initiate a slump in export. No verbal assurance of Petrobangla officials about steps being taken to increase the LNG supply will work.