Gas crisis lingers, public sufferings continue

There has been no respite from the gas supply disruption even after seven days since a fire at Excelerate Energy's Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Moheshkhali triggered a nationwide supply crisis, affecting households, industries and transport services.

Amid the prolonged disruption and public sufferings, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Monday apologised to the public and expressed hope that gas supplies would begin to improve from next week, with full restoration expected about a week later.

Speaking to reporters at his office at the Secretariat, he said the government was making every possible effort to resolve the crisis.

"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," the state minister said.

He said the disruption was not caused by any government agency but stemmed from a problem involving a private operator responsible for ensuring part of the country's gas supply.

"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 floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Moheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, where the technical fault occurred, he said the facility normally supplies around 500-550 million cubic feet of gas a day.

According to information provided by the operator, the FSRU is expected to resume supplying around 280-300 million cubic feet of gas a 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," he added.