Gas supply to Chattogram and elsewhere has started to improve after a floating LNG terminal in Moheshkhali resumed production after its 45-day scheduled maintenance programme.
“Excelerate Energy’s FSRU started production after scheduled maintenance today [Saturday]. It is now supplying 230 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMcf/d) and hopefully the supply will reach 500 MMcf/d soon,” said a top official of the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL).
The RPGCL, a subsidiary of state-owned Petrobangla, is responsible for LNG imports from abroad and receives re-gasification service from the existing two LNG terminals in Moheshkhali, one set up by Summit Group and another by US-based Excelerate Energy.
Each LNG terminal has a capacity to supply 500 MMcf/d gas to the national gas network from which a major portion is supplied to Chattogram.
The Excelerate Energy’s FSRU went on a 45-day maintenance programme suspending supply of gas to the national gas grid while the Summit’s FSRU experienced a technical fault halting gas supply to the national gas network, leading to a severe gas crisis in Chattogram and elsewhere.
Speaking to The Business Post, Chattogram-based business leader and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice President Rakibul Alam Chowdhury said, “Gas supply is yet to reach full pressure. Due to the crisis, our factories are sitting idle.
“If this continues, our situation will become even more miserable.”
He pointed out, “On the one hand, the salary of the workers has increased and we have to pay workers without any work. Shutting off gas without prior notice is not acceptable under any circumstances. We will press our demands to the authorities concerned and seek normalisation of gas supply.”
Many areas in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur have been experiencing extreme gas crises or low pressure problems in recent times.
The RPGCL official, however, said Summit’s FSRU also resumed production to a very low scale and it is providing a supply of 130 MMcf/d against its capacity of 500 MMcf/d.
He noted that the gas shortage problem is unlikely to be fully resolved as the Summit’s FSRU also has a scheduled maintenance programme set to start within the next 3-4 days.
“We think the situation will improve to some extent, but not fully,” he told UNB.
The Energy Division on Friday expressed regrets for the inconvenience caused to consumers over the gas crisis in Chattogram and elsewhere in the country due to the suspension of the LNG supply from FSRU in Moheshkhali, following a technical fault there.
In a press release, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division had stated that due to a technical glitch at a Moheshkhali LNG FSRU, gas supply to Chattogram and other areas of the country remained suspended since early morning on Friday.
