Country facing acute gas crisis

The country is facing severe gas crisis as Bibiyana Gas Field has been under 'maintenance' and LNG import from Summit FSRU has shut down due to technical glitch that has cut around 500 mmcf of gas from the pipeline on an average per day.
Power plants, CNG stations, Tea gardens has been facing acute gas crises for the last few months, interrupted LNG supply has also pushed the entire industries to a vulnerable situation.
To manage the situation, the government is cutting gas supply to the power plants, industries, commercial places, CNG stations and residential areas.
Admitting the situation, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid sat with the officials of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company (TGTDCL) and Petrobangla and formed a monitoring team to solve the problem.
Following the meeting, Nasrul Hamid said, "We are working to fix the glitch...it will take some time to manage the situation."
According to the Power Development Board (PDB) all of its high cost
fuel/diesel based power plants are now in operation to continue the power generation at its normal pace.
The country is running short of 1,000 mmcf gas per day. Petrobnagla is now supplying 1,000 mmcf to 1,100 mmcf gas per day against regular demand for 1,400 mmcf gas.
Managing Director Harunur Rashid Molla of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd said they were trying to make the supply normal by next seven days.
The supply disruption during winter caused by condensate deposited in pipes has worsened this time because the government failed to buy LNG from the spot market (last month), where prices have gone up significantly.
There was no supply between 9:00am and 1:00pm in different part of Dhaka city.
Many people of Mirpur, Tejgaon, Rajabazar, Jigatola, Mohammadpur, Adabar, Bhatara, Badda, Gendaria, Turag, Uttar Khan, Dakkhin Khan, part of Mirpur, Pallabi,Dhanmondi complained that they had been facing acute gas crisis for the last couple of months and that the situation had worsened for the last one week.
The country's gas demand is about 3,700 mmcfd whereas it is getting 2,800 to 2,900 mmcfd, said a Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) official.
Officials attributed the dearth of supply to the reduced import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in recent months.
The country needs at least 525 mmcfd of imported LNG to keep the supply normal.
"LNG deficit is the main problem ... it dropped to around 300 mmcfd in the middle of January. We have been getting 350 mmcfd for the last five days," official said.