The daily demand for natural gas in the country is around 400 crore cubic feet, while production capacity is 376 crore cubic feet including LNG, with Petrobangla currently supplying only 280 crore cubic feet.
Due to the acute crisis of natural gas, production in industries is being hampered. Other consumers like power plants, fertilizer factories, CNG stations, residential and other sectors in the country are also suffering from a gas crunch.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division is not capable of handling the situation despite gas rationing in different sectors including CNG stations.
BGMEA Director Asif Ashraf told Bangladesh Post that there is no gas in the factories for about 12 hours every day. Due to the ongoing gas crisis, factories are run by diesel, which is too costly, and also hampering production.
“The production cost has also increased around 20 percent. Due to the rising production costs, it has become difficult to stay competitive in the global market. In this situation, production and delivery of goods is not going on according to the demand of the buyer. We have suffered a lot because of Covid-19 pandemic. Now if gas supply is not normal, industrialization will be hampered. The government must take immediate steps in this regard. If necessary, uninterrupted supply of gas to the industries should be ensured even with subsidy,’ he added.
Asif Ashraf also suggested that gas should be given to the industries by stopping the use of it in private cars. This will increase the production of the factories. The economy will prosper. Besides, the government may take other steps, he said.
City dwellers are also suffering from low gas pressure. Residents of different areas like Eskaton, Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Paikpara, Kallyanpur, Rampura, Hatirpul, Jatrabari, Dhanmondi, Uttara, old Dhaka and other parts of the city have complained of low gas pressure.
Mahnur Islam Liza, a resident of Mohammadpur told Bangladesh Post, “We are facing severe problem for cooking due to gas crisis. Most of the time there is no gas in the burner. Moreover, the gas pressure is much lower. More often than not I have to buy unhealthy and expensive food from restaurants.”
As an alternative, those who are a little more affluent have resorted to cylinders or electric stoves, but the middle and lower classes are suffering a lot.
Bilkish Banu, a resident of Jatrabari, said that gas burner has not been able to be lit during the day time for several days. Gas is available early in the morning and at night. An alternative is to use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). However, LPG cylinders also have to be bought at a higher rate than the price fixed by the government.
Gas demand in the country is met in two ways—production from domestic gas fields and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). The production capacity of the country's gas fields is 270 crore cubic feet per day. In contrast, 230 crore cubic feet of gas is being supplied. On the other hand, the imported LNG supply capacity under long-term contracts is 100 crore cubic feet. But now it is being supplied at around 48 crore cubic feet per day.
Petrobangla officials said that LNG prices have soared since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war last February. The government has also stopped buying gas from the open market at high prices. Meanwhile, production from the country's gas fields has been declining since several years.
According to state-owned RPGCL, five LNG cargoes (vessels) are being brought every month from Oman and Qatar under the long-term contract worth around $15 per unit. Before the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, this rate was less than $10. And three ships are expected to arrive every month with LNG purchased from Singapore's spot market. Now the price of LNG per unit in the world market is more than $60, which was $36 last June and $4 last year.
Petrobangla Chairman Nazmul Ahsan said, there is some shortage of gas in supply, it is correct. The crisis is not only in Bangladesh but also all over the world now. The government is thinking about this at the highest level. Now maximum efforts are being made to increase production from domestic sources.
CNG stations supplying gas to transports are now closed for five hours a day (6 pm to 11 pm). They are not getting proper gas during the rest of the time. Traders complain that gas pressure is usually considered normal when it is 15 psi (a unit of measurement of gas pressure). Even at 10 psi it works. But most of the time for two months it does not get more than two to three psi during the day. Pressure increases after 12 pm. Then there are no more customers.
BKMEA has conducted a survey to find out the situation of gas supply and garment production in 64 factories in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur. The survey revealed that the gas pressure in the factories has decreased abnormally in the last two months. They got gas at an average of 1.8 psi. As a result, the production has decreased by 40 to 50 percent.
Professor M Shamsul Alam, Energy Advisor of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said, "LNG imports have been made compulsory to provide special facilities to some groups by creating a gas crisis. The country should give priority to domestic oil and gas exploration to lessen the dependence on imported LNG, but the issue has long been neglected.”