The government wants to increase the country's energy supply and consumption in line with Bangladesh’s graduation into a developed country by 2041. To achieve this goal, Tk 40,751.86 crore is likely to be allocated for the comprehensive development of the power and energy sector in FY2024-25, which is 15.38 per cent of the total allocation.
However, this allocation will be Tk 3,641.14 crore less compared to the allocation for the current financial year of 2023-24, according to sources of the Ministry of Planning.
In FY24, Tk 44,393 crore was allocated for the power and energy sector in the Annual Development Programme, which is 16.88 per cent of the total.
According to the sources, to meet the growing fuel demand, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali will mention in his speech for the FY25 national budget next month that 48 wells will be drilled under BAPEX, a subsidiary of Petrobangla.
He will also mention the 922 km geological survey, 16,621 line km 2D seismic survey and 4700 sq km 3D seismic survey conducted under BAPEX.
The government wants to exploit a total of 26 blocks in the Bay of Bengal. That is why ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and Oil India Ltd (Oil) are engaged in jointly conducting offshore oil and gas exploration in the shallow areas. As a result, nine blocks in shallow areas and 15 blocks in deep sea areas are open.
Under the Bangladesh Offshore Model Production Sharing Contract 2023, the Bangladesh Offshore Bidding Round-2024 was announced on March 10 to engage international organisations for oil and gas exploration and extraction in these blocks.
Meanwhile, the installation of Electronic Volume Corrector (EVC) meters for industrial customers is underway to bring transparency in gas distribution across the country.
Distribution companies TGTDCL, BGDCL, KGDCL, JGTDSL, PGCL and SGCL have already started installing EVC meters and necessary gas lines at the customer level. The finance minister will allocate funds in his budget for the installation of the rest of the meters, according to sources.
Steps have been taken to carry out a feasibility study by Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited at an estimated cost of Tk 72.39 crore. The finance minister may give instructions in his budget speech to take necessary measures after examining the report.
To further ensure the country's energy security, the finance minister will highlight the issue of increasing the storage capacity of fuel oil to 60 days instead of 45 days. The minister will also present an action plan in the FY25 budget for the phased implementation of this plan.
ERL Unit-II project has been taken up to increase the refining capacity of Eastern Refinery Limited by three million tonnes to meet the fuel oil demand of the country. If this project is implemented, the annual refining capacity of the refinery will be increased to 4.5 million tonnes.
