Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood on Sunday said that the government was compelled to raise fuel prices due to rising global costs and mounting import pressure.
The Minister acknowledged that higher fuel prices will inevitably affect the cost of living, "We have now been compelled to take this step." "This Iran war has affected not only Bangladesh but also the entire world and we are also feeling that impact," he said.
Iqbal Hassan Mahmood and State Minister Aninda Islam Amit met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the secretariat on Sunday and briefed him on the country's fuel situation.
"They met the prime minister at his office at the secretariat and informed him of the latest fuel situation," said Prime Minister's Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon.
After the meeting, the energy minister told waiting journalists that the government had no alternative but to hike the prices as fuel imports require foreign currency, and the adjustment was necessary to keep the situation at a tolerable level.
He said the country is going through a "wartime situation" amid global volatility in fuel prices. "Countries around the world have adjusted fuel prices. Even the United States has increased prices," he said.
Earlier, Iqbal Hasan discussed the fuel issue with the reporters at his secretariat office, during that the Minister has said, the government had no alternative but to hike the prices as fuel imports require foreign currency, and the adjustment was necessary to keep the economy at a manageable level.
Referring to earlier assurances that fuel prices would not be increased in April, the minister said, "After the war situation, we built fuel stocks at higher costs, yet we had still been selling at a lower price, we have fixed prices at a level that is still below the actual import cost," the Minister said.
Addressing concerns over the impact on common people, Iqbal Hassan said the government support remains in place, he noted that countries worldwide, including the United States, have increased fuel prices following global market adjustments.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources told Parliament that Bangladesh currently has an estimated 7.63 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas remaining in its reserves which could meet the country's demand for around 12 years at the present consumption rate.
Of the total reserve, 22.11 TCF of gas has already been extracted as of December 31, 2025, while 7.63 TCF remained in reserve as of January 1, 2026, he said in reply to a question from ruling party lawmaker elected from Bogura-4 Md. Mosharraf Hossain in the House.
The Minister said the country currently has an estimated extractable natural gas reserve of 29.74 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
He said that if no new gas fields are discovered and the current daily supply rate approximately 1,700 million cubic feet is maintained, the remaining gas reserve will be sufficient to meet the country's demand for around 12 years.
Listing various steps, the Minister said the government has undertaken a number of initiatives to explore new gas resources across the country. Under Petrobangla's drilling and workover programme, a total of 50 and 100 wells have been planned in phases, he said.
So far, 26 wells have been drilled and workover activities completed, while work on the remaining wells is progressing, he added. In terms of seismic surveys, BAPEX has already conducted approximately 3,600 line kilometers of 2D seismic data acquisition in Blocks 7 and 9 and data processing is currently underway.
Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL) is set to begin 3D seismic surveys covering an area of 1,450 square kilometers in Habiganj, Bakhrabad, and Meghna fields.
Focusing on the outstanding bills, Iqbal Hassan Mahmood informed Parliament that the total outstanding bills of government and private power plants stand at around Tk 52,300 crore.
"The outstanding bills of the country's government and private power plants including electricity imports stood at Tk 52,300 crore as of April 9, 2026," he said.
The Minister said of the total outstanding amount, Tk 11,634.06 crore is owed to Petrobangla for gas bill arrears from government and private companies while Tk 3,891.55 crore remains unpaid for electricity imports from India.
He further said Tk 17,357.68 crore is due as capacity payments and fuel payments to gas- and fuel oil-based Independent Power Producer (IPP) plants and another Tk 15,452.91 crore remains outstanding for coal prices and capacity payments for joint venture and IPP coal-based power plants.
Besides, Tk 5,623.03 crore is owed to government-owned power companies as capacity payments and fuel payment arrears while Tk 198.94 crore is pending as hauling charges.
The power and energy minister also informed Parliament that the total amount of bank loans taken by power plants stands at Tk 1,49,311.26 crore.
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood also said unscrupulous traders are hoarding and black marketing fuel in different parts of the country, creating an artificial fuel crisis. "An artificial crisis is being created due to panic buying and hoarding," he said in response to a tabled question from opposition MP elected from Netrakona-5 Masum Mustafa in Parliament.
