Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) has taken an initiative to automate the gas sector to prevent wastage and theft. Petrobangla has recently submitted a report on automation to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has started working towards the goal of automation as it was instructed earlier by the Energy Division. In some cases the BPC has already introduced automation system.
BPC also plans to implement a project called 'Automation of Oil Depot Including Safety and Security' to conduct operation of fuel oil by bringing all depots of the country under automation. The project is expected to be completed by June 2024.
An official of Petrobangla said that gas theft was not going to stop. Most of the systems losses that distribution companies show are in fact stealing. If there is automation in the gas sector, it will be easy to determine where and how much gas is being used. It will also be possible to identify invalid customers.
Secondly, the scenario of gas extraction, usage and bill collection will always be seen on the screen by the executive of the distribution company. He can understand how much gas is being used and how much is being billed.
The daily demand for gas in the country is around 420 crore cubic feet, while average production is around 300 crore cubic feet including LNG.
Although there is a deficit of 120 crore cubic feet, around 45 crore cubic feet of gas is being wasted or disappearing daily.
Due to the shortage, fertilizer factories have to be shut down to increase gas supply for irrigation and summer power generation. But effective measures are not taken to reduce waste or disappearance.
Due to the managerial incompetence of the gas transmission and distribution company, 65 crore cubic meters of gas is being wasted (systems loss) every year. Gas is being wasted regularly due to illegal connections, overuse and leakage in the pipeline.
Wastage increased in the last financial year as compared to the previous year, according to the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla) and the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), the regulator of the energy sector.
According to energy experts, it is possible to save huge quantity of gas from loss by stopping theft.
Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL) supplies gas to the capital city of Dhaka and the surrounding areas. In the last financial year, TGTDCL wasted 32.60 crore cubic meters of gas. Bakhrabad in Cumilla area wasted more than 2 percent of its gas last year. They have lost 18 crore 52 lakh cubic meters of gas.
Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL), has an annual systems loss of 0.25 percent. The annual wastage of gas is 6 crore 20 lakh cubic meters.
Two of the six distribution companies- Western Gas Company Limited and Sundarbans Gas Company Limited have no wastage of gas.
TGTDCL managing director Harunur Rashid Mollah said many people are stealing gas through illegal connections. An all-out campaign is underway against such illegal use. All invalid connections will be disconnected. Leakages are being identified and repaired regularly.
Chattogram-based gas Distribution Company Karnafuli wasted 5 crore cubic meters in the last financial year and Sylhet's gas distribution company Jalalabad's waste is 2 crore 65 lakh cubic meters.
Sources said Titas is adding the wasted gas to their systems loss. However, the quantity of wasted gas or systems loss is actually more.
Prior to the import of high-priced LNG from August 18, 2018, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division had instructed all distribution companies to declare themselves free from illegal connections. However, the distribution companies could not remove all the identified lines.
An Energy Division official said, ‘in many cases, we have seen illegal connections being disconnected and reconnected. We think that this work is not possible without the connivance of the officials and employees of the gas distribution company.’
LNG being purchased at a higher price, is now being sold at a lower price. The government has to pay a huge subsidy for this. The government has taken initiative to disconnect illegal gas line to stop the illegal use of this expensive gas.
Energy expert, Professor Shamsul Alam told Bangladesh Post, the government has cracked down on militants. So, it is not a difficult task to remove illegal gas connections. If there is goodwill, it is possible to get rid of illegal connections within 24 hours.
Several intelligence agencies have reported to the government over the years about illegal gas connections, but to no avail.