Extreme gas crisis has been seen in the industrial factories of the country. Production is stopped in many places due to lack of gas. Again, production has come down to one -third. Not only the industry, but also at home and CNG stations, there is a cry for gas. The crisis has been created to increase gas supply to power generation to reduce load shedding in the summer. They fear the crisis may intensify in the days ahead as the domestic gas is lifted.
Petrobangla officials say there is a demand for 100 million cubic feet of gas daily in the country. Although 1 to 120 million cubic feet of gas is available, the situation can be handled. But against this demand, on April 25, gas was supplied to 20 million cubic feet. From there, the power plant is given about 10 million cubic feet. The remaining 10 million cubic feet of gas is not possible to meet the needs of the factories, homes and CNG stations. In this situation the most suffering from the industry is the factories.
Gas-crisis has risen in the factories of Savar, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Narasandi in Dhaka. The owners of the export -oriented garment factory are worried about holding the order. In addition to the garment factory, the production of ceramic, steel, re-rolling mills and textile sectors has dropped by half.
Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution, the country's largest gas distribution company. The company supplied gas to Dhaka, Gazipur, Mymensingh and Narayanganj areas. Shahnawaz Parvez, managing director of Titas Gas, told Today's magazine, “We are in demand, we have 1 million cubic feet, we are getting 1 million cubic feet. A large part of what I am getting is being supplied to the power plant. Because of this, gas supply is not being provided to the factory as per demand. '
Experts say the crisis cannot be resolved by importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from abroad. To solve the crisis, the emphasis is on lifting domestic gas.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Energy Advisor Prof M Shamsul Alam told today's newspaper that there was no attempt to lift the domestic gas before, not yet. If the energy security is not ensured, the country's economy will be in great danger.
Is not released from load shedding
Although priority in generating electricity by reducing gas supply in the industry, it is not possible to completely free load shedding. Engineers of the Electricity Development Board (PDB) say that the average demand for electricity in the country came from last month (April) last month to 4,000 MW to 7,700 MW. On the contrary, the electricity generated, there was a shortage of about 1,700 MW every day. As a result, the capital is kept free of load shedding, but the load shedding of the village level remains right. The situation is being supplied to the power plant daily, so that the situation does not deteriorate. If the amount of gas supplied to the power plant goes down, there will be intense load shedding in the capital. Again, if the gas supply at the power plant is kept at the same rate, the factory will be stagnant.
LNG dependence on the way
When the Awami League government came to power on January 27, the production of domestic gas was 10 million cubic feet daily. Then the new well for the production of domestic gas and the renovation of the existing wells were undertaken. The production of domestic gas increased by 20 million cubic feet daily. Considering that large gas could not be found on the ground, the government was set up two LNGs floating in the sea, one of the US company Accelerate Energy, the other to the domestic company Summit. Two terminals are given without tender. On August 27, the supply of gas from the LNG terminal of Accelerate Energy began with the capacity to supply 100 million cubic feet of gas daily and the LNG terminal of the summit came to production on April 27.
According to Petrobangla sources, on April 2021, an average of 10 million cubic feet of gas is supplied daily. Of these, the LNG imported from abroad was 1 million cubic feet, while the remaining 20 million cubic feet was domestic gas. On April 26, gas was supplied to 25 million cubic feet, which is less than 1 million cubic feet less than the previous year; All of which are domestic gas, with a daily production of 5 million cubic feet.
Darkness in front
The highest daily is being supplied with the country's two LNG terminals. The last Awami League government allowed two more LNG terminals, the current interim government has canceled the two LNG terminals. On the contrary, the government has decided to set up a land -based LNG terminal, Shafiqul Alam, chief adviser, said. However, experts say it will take several years to establish a new terminal by calling tenders. As a result, gas crisis is not going easily.
Petrobangla officials say large gas will not be reserved on the ground in the country, the production of existing wells will be reduced. In particular, Bibiana and Brahmanbaria Titas gas field gas supply is likely to decrease in Moulvibazar. Considering such a situation, Petrobangla signed an agreement with the US company Accelerate to build a floating terminal in Patuakhali Pigeon in December 2021. And in March 2021, an agreement was signed to construct another LNG terminal floating with the summit in Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar. Through these two terminals, 100 million cubic feet of gas could be imported daily. The two agreements were canceled in October last year. The government led by Muhammad Yunus. At the same time, Petrobangla also removed from deep drilling.
