Gas crisis severe – govt to ramp up LNG imports: Adviser Fouzul

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan has said Bangladesh is facing a severe gas crisis due to dwindling domestic gas reserves and has planned to import an increased amount of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

"To mitigate the persistent gas shortage, the government will import more LNG cargoes than last year. Last year, we imported 84 LNG cargoes, but this year we will bring 20 additional cargoes, taking the number to 104 to give relief to the industry and other sectors," he said today (27 August) while addressing a webinar titled "4th State of Investment Climate-Bangladesh", organised by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).

Bida Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun moderated the programme.

Acknowledging the 1,000 mmcf daily gas shortage, the energy adviser said the previous government didn't take any initiatives to explore local gas sources.

"We are taking initiatives to explore gas from local sources and will float tenders for onshore and offshore exploration," Fouzul Kabir said, noting that the tender and materialising this into action is a time-consuming process.

Terming gas wastage a major challenge, the adviser said, "We import costly LNG to meet demand, but around 300-500 mmcf gas is wasted due to pilferage and leakage. We are trying to stop it."

There are many captive power plants which consume a wholesome gas. Most of those plants are inefficient, and a decision has been taken to cut gas supply to those captive power plants, he said.

Regarding corruption in the power-energy sector, Fouzul Kabir said, there has been unprecedented corruption in this sector. "To curb corruption, we annulled the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act, 2010. By using this law, massive corruption had taken place during the previous government."

Criticising the current Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan as short-sighted, Fouzul Kabir said that the issue of energy mixture was not addressed in this master plan.

"The gas crisis was not addressed, while solar energy was neglected. We are now revising the Master Plan and hope to finalise it by December this year," he added.

To encourage investment in solar, Fouzul Kabir said Bangladesh is moving ahead with formulating a merchant solar power plant policy, adding that the draft will be finalised by October this year.