Gas supply falls again: What is the reason this time?

Amid the ongoing gas crisis, supplies have fallen again. After liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies increased somewhat last Thursday following a two-week decline, they began falling again on Monday. As a result, the gas shortage is likely to worsen across the country today, Tuesday.

A senior official of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla) told Prothom Alo that LNG could not be unloaded at the terminal from an import vessel because of rough weather at sea. This has reduced supplies by more than 250 million cubic feet. Supplies may increase from Wednesday if weather conditions at sea improve.

Speaking about this, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit told Prothom Alo that the LNG cargo was nearby but could not be brought to the terminal because of the adverse weather.

“The energy division is working with all concerned to increase gas supplies as quickly as possible,” he said.

There are two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) at Maheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar for supplying imported LNG. One, operated by US company Excelerate Energy, has a capacity of 600 million cubic feet, while Summit’s terminal has a capacity of 500 million cubic feet.

Excelerate’s terminal was shut down following a fire on 21 July. This reduced gas supplies and intensified the crisis. From household cooking stoves to industrial facilities and power generation, operations were disrupted. Long queues also formed at filling stations as motorists struggled to obtain compressed natural gas (CNG).

According to Petrobangla sources, Excelerate’s terminal has two boilers, each with a capacity of 300 million cubic feet. One of the boilers was damaged in the fire. Gas supplies from the undamaged boiler resumed on Thursday, while work is under way to restart the damaged one.

Once the damaged boiler is ready to be brought back into operation, the functioning boiler will have to be shut down for testing. During that period, gas supplies from Excelerate’s terminal will stop completely. Supplies could resume after a shutdown of at least 12 hours, after which they would gradually return to normal.

Petrobangla therefore wants to carry out the work on a holiday, when demand for gas is lower.

Sources said Excelerate Energy has been asked to submit an action plan covering the testing and resumption of supplies. A decision will then be taken in consultation with the Energy Division.

This means gas supplies from Excelerate will not increase again this week. The terminal is currently supplying an average of 280 million cubic feet a day.

The country’s daily gas demand stands at 3.8 billion cubic feet. Under normal circumstances, supplies of up to 2.7 billion cubic feet a day are used to manage demand. Of this, 1.05 billion cubic feet comes from LNG.

After Excelerate’s terminal was shut down, Summit’s terminal supplied LNG above its capacity for four consecutive days, reaching around 570 million cubic feet a day. Supplies were subsequently maintained at around 500 million cubic feet a day.

As a result, total daily gas supplies fell to around 2.15 billion cubic feet. Following the partial resumption of operations at Excelerate’s terminal, supplies rose to more than 2.45 billion cubic feet.

However, just four days later, supplies have fallen again.

A new vessel carrying LNG arrived on Monday, but the terminal was unable to receive the LNG because of adverse weather at sea. As a result, supplies from Summit’s terminal also fell by 250 million cubic feet.

Consequently, total gas supplies across the country have fallen below 2.2 billion cubic feet a day. Supplies may decline somewhat further today.

Gas distribution companies are struggling to meet demand amid the shortfall.