Gas shortage remains acute in Dhaka

Every sector, including household, industry and CNG stations, are suffering from extreme gas shortages in Dhaka. There is no supply in many households most of the time, and industrialists too claim that their production has been seriously disrupted due to the ongoing crisis.

The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources had recently informed that gas supply from two floating LNG terminals in Cox’s Bazar’s Maheshkhali has stopped due to the cyclone Mocha. The supply will resume in the next two days when the situation returns to normalcy.

A long line of CNG-powered auto-rickshaws, private cars and microbuses were seen at various CNG stations in the capital on Monday. Lines of cars waiting for gas are creating traffic jams across the main road.

CNG pump owners in the capital say the gas pressure has dropped a lot over the last one week. Due to lack of pressure it takes longer to refill CNG in vehicles. Apart from this, sometimes the gas supply is delayed due to power outages. This is increasing dissatisfaction among drivers.

According to Petrobangla, there are 603 CNG filling stations across the country, and 8,612 cars use CNG as fuel. Insiders say 2.93 BCF gas is supplied to CNG stations every month, which is 3.52 per cent of the country’s total gas consumption.

General Secretary of Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association Farhan Noor said CNG filling station equipment is getting damaged due to insufficient gas pressure and power outages.

Petrobangla Chairman Janendra Nath Sarkar said, “We are supplying gas to industries, power plants, households and filling stations through the same supply line. Under the current system, it is not possible to reduce gas supply to just CNG filling stations.”

According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division sources, the government has a plan to gradually reduce gas supply to CNG filling stations.

Seeking anonymity, a senior official from the Energy Division said, “There is a gas crisis in our country. To solve this crisis, the government is importing LNG at a higher price. The government is considering reducing gas supply to households and CNG filling stations in the coming days.”