Staff Reporter :
Amid the ongoing severe crisis of gas in all sectors including households and industries, the government has called upon the customers to have patience for the temporary inconvenience.
Minister of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid at the Secretariat on Sunday assured that the situation of gas crisis would be relieved in a couple of days.
“The supply of natural gas faced an issue last Friday and Saturday. One of the two terminals for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply had been sent for inspection, and after its return, problems arose.
This particularly affected gas supply in Chattogram and subsequently in Dhaka. The situation is expected to improve within the next one or two days,” he said.
He has also stated that the excessive crisis in gas is due to the cold weather and illegal connections.
The gas supply problem was an unexpected and temporary issue and efforts are underway to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to all customers, he said.
During winter, gas problems are commonly observed, especially for cooking in households, he said and requested customers to be patient.
As an alternative for cooking, the LPG use has become popular, and approximately 75 percent of households in the country use LPG for cooking, he said.
“Only some customers in Dhaka and surrounding areas, Chattogram, and Sylhet use natural gas.
Even if some users do not receive gas, they are still required to pay bills at the end of the month. Therefore, residential customers are being provided with meters.
Around four lakh meters already installed. The goal is to reach all customers within the next three years,” he said.
The Minister further explained that funds were required for gas meters, causing a delay in their implementation.
However, arrangements have now been made through the World Bank, ADB, and JICA. Installation work has started in Dhaka (four lakh meters), Sylhet (fifty thousand meters), and Chattogram (eighteen lakh meters), the state minister said.
About the pricing of gas, he said, “Monthly price adjustments are being made in coordination with the global market.”
Due to technical glitches in the Maheshkhali LNG Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), there was no gas supply in the areas around Chittagong on Friday, leading to a severe gas crisis.
However, gas supply resumed through the pipeline from Friday night, and customers began receiving gas.
On Saturday morning, the gas pressure remained low, but it increased after 12pm.
On the other hand, the reduction in gas supply has resulted in an impact on gas-based electricity generation.
As a consequence, there is a load shedding of 700 megawatts across various locations in the country on Saturday.
In response to the question of why there is load shedding even during the winter, the Nasrul Hamid explained that, at the moment, the demand for gas is around 3800 MMCFD (Million Cubic Feet per Day), but the current gas supply capability is only 3200 MMCFD.
There is a gap in the industrial and power sector due to this shortage, he said.
“Some power plants have to be temporarily shut down due to a lack of gas for a few days. This is causing some issues for us,” he added.
The State Minister expressed hope that a solution to this problem will be resolved within the next few days.
Replying to a question that industrial factories in Narayanganj and Gazipur are not receiving any gas, the State Minister said to keep patients for a day as the issue will be resolved from Monday.