Gas crisis to persist another two weeks

Households across the country, especially in Dhaka and Chattogram, are enduring acute hardship as a prolonged gas shortage continues to disrupt daily life, leaving families unable to cook meals and forcing many to rely on electric cookers, rice cookers and other costly alternatives that have increased household expenses.

The crisis has also taken a heavy toll on industries, with many factories scaling back production because of inadequate gas supply, raising concerns among business leaders over manufacturing losses and delays in production.

Sources said that low gas pressure has further affected CNG stations, disrupting public transport services and adding to commuters’ difficulties.

After days of mounting public frustration, the government has indicated that the crisis may continue for another 10 to 15 days before supplies return to normal.

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood said on Monday that a fire at one of the country’s two Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) had severely disrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, worsening the nationwide gas shortage.

“About a week ago there was a fire in one of FSRUs.

Fortunately, it was not a major disaster, but the unit is now under repair and it will take 10-15 days more to repair it completely,” he said while addressing a policy roundtable titled Navigating Global Shifts: Fostering Energy Security and Resilience in Bangladesh at a city hotel.

The event was organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS).

The minister said Bangladesh currently has two LNG cargoes waiting offshore but is unable to unload them because of the disruption.

“As a result, there is a serious shortage of gas across the country. People are complaining about low gas pressure in their homes, while industries and power plants are also suffering,” he said.

Mahmood said that power sector remains heavily dependent on natural gas, while LNG and coal are largely imported, making the country vulnerable to external supply disruptions.

He noted that many gas-fired power plants were currently sitting idle because of fuel shortages despite the government continuing to make capacity payments to private power producers.

The minister said the government had imported fuel worth about US$3.65 billion over the past six months, placing significant pressure on foreign exchange reserves amid persistently high global energy prices.

He also said the government had inherited around Tk 56,000 crore in unpaid liabilities to private power producers from the previous administration while continuing to meet monthly subsidy obligations.

Looking beyond the immediate crisis, Mahmood said the government had accelerated efforts to expand renewable energy to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.

He said Bangladesh had adopted a new renewable energy policy targeting the addition of 10,000 megawatts of renewable electricity within the next five years through utility-scale solar projects and rooftop solar installations involving greater private sector participation.

“If we can achieve the target of 10,000 megawatts in five years, life will become much easier in the energy sector,” he said.

BIPSS President Major General A N M Muniruzzaman (Retd), “Our domestic natural gas reserves are depleting, pushing us towards a heavier reliance on imported energy and coal.

Coupled with the escalating impacts of climate change, where erratic weather puts further pressure on energy consumption, our current model is being severely tested.”

He said Bangladesh needed a diversified, domestically anchored and regionally integrated energy system capable of withstanding external geopolitical and economic shocks while ensuring long-term energy security.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit apologised to the public for the continuing gas crisis and expressed optimism that the situation would begin improving from next week.

“We know homemakers are struggling to cook, industries have had to scale back production, and pressure on CNG stations has disrupted public transport.

We sincerely apologise to the people for the hardship,” he told reporters at the Secretariat.

He said the disruption was caused by a technical problem involving a private operator responsible for part of the country’s gas supply rather than any government agency.

“We are working jointly with them around the clock. We cannot provide an immediate solution due to certain limitations.

However, our teams are working 24/7 with the company, and we hope the situation will start improving from next week, InshaAllah,” Amit said.

Referring to the faulty FSRU at Moheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar, he said the terminal normally supplied between 500 and 550 million cubic feet of gas per day.

According to information from the operator, the facility is expected to resume supplying around 280 to 300 million cubic feet of gas per day to the national grid from next week.

“If they can restore about 50 per cent of the supply next week, the plan is to return to 100 per cent capacity in the following week,” the state minister added.