A significant reduction in natural gas supply to the national grid has caused severe gas shortages across the country, including Dhaka. Despite a daily demand of 4,000MMCFD (million cubic feet per day), only 2,200 to 2,250MMCFD of gas is being supplied for power generation.
This shortfall has led to widespread power disruptions in residential and industrial areas.
Residents have been experiencing gas shortages throughout the day across the country, forcing many to resort to alternatives like LPG cylinders or getting meals from hotels. The situation is particularly dire at CNG stations, where the low gas pressure has resulted in vehicles lining up for hours.
The industrial sector has also been hit hard, with numerous complaints of gas shortages affecting production processes.
The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) reported that some 25 gas-based power plants were partially or fully shut down on July 11 due to the shortage, reducing the power supply by 3,984MW. This caused extended load shedding in areas outside Dhaka, with even the capital experiencing two to three hours of load shedding over the past two days.
Petrobangla, the state-owned oil, gas, and mineral resources corporation, has attributed the gas shortage to a reduction in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply that occurred for nearly a month and a half due to the shutdown of a terminal. On the night of July 9, a pipeline in Chattogram was punctured, further exacerbating the situation.
An announcement from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division on Friday morning says that the damaged 42-inch diametre Anwara-Faujdarhat pipeline of Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) had been repaired, and gas commissioning was completed at 7:20am.
The division assured that the gas supply would normalise from the afternoon, with the transmission and gas pressure gradually increasing in proper synchronisation with the LNG supply and the gas grid pressure. The pressure currently rests at 70 PSI.
Petrobangla's current supply of 3,000MMCFD against the demand of 4,000MMCFD includes 1,100MMCFD from two floating LNG terminals in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar.
One of these terminals was sent to Singapore for repairs, reducing the daily supply to 550MMCFD. Since July 9, the supply has further decreased to 250MMCFD, lowering the total gas supply to 2,250MMCFD.
Summit Group's LNG terminal, damaged by Cyclonic Storm Remal on May 27, has been out of operation, reducing the supply by 500MMCFD. After returning from repairs, it is expected to resume gas supply in mid-July.
The Managing Director of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL), Rafiqul Islam, informed The Business Post that the terminal might return to the country by July 15, potentially alleviating the gas shortage.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid also expressed optimism, stating that the gas crisis would be resolved by mid-July.
Meanwhile, due to the severe gas shortage, the country has been hit by widespread load shedding as power generation has decreased. According to BPDB statistics, at 1am on July 11, some 1,836MW of load shedding was implemented. At noon, there was a shortfall of 1,795MW in the power supply, which increased to 1,895MW by 2pm.
