Gas crisis may take another 10-15 days to ease: Energy minister
Two LNG cargoes remain waiting offshore amid repairs.
The country's gas crisis may take another 10-15 days to ease as repairs continue at a fire-damaged floating LNG facility, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood said today (27 July).
"The disruption has prevented the unloading of two LNG cargoes. As a result, households are facing low gas pressure for cooking, while power plants are also struggling due to reduced gas supply," he said at a policy roundtable at a hotel in Dhaka.
Titled "Navigating Global Shifts: Fostering Energy Security and Resilience in Bangladesh", the roundtable was organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) and attended by policymakers from the public and private sectors.
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The session was moderated by BIPSS President Major General (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman.
Minister Iqbal said Bangladesh had become increasingly dependent on imported LNG, LPG and other fossil fuels as domestic gas production continued to decline.
"The cost of imported fuel has also increased significantly. Over the past six months, the country has spent around $3.65 billion on fuel imports, putting substantial pressure on foreign exchange reserves," he said.
The minister said the power sector's biggest challenge was financial.
"The government inherited around Tk56,000 crore in unpaid dues to private power producers from the previous Awami League government, while continuing to meet its monthly subsidy obligations," he said.
Iqbal said the government was placing greater emphasis on renewable energy to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Bangladesh has adopted a renewable energy policy targeting an additional 10,000MW of renewable power generation capacity over the next five years, he said.
Negotiations with prospective investors are under way, while land allocation for new renewable energy projects is expected to begin in August, he added.
Bangladesh operates two floating storage and regasification units at Moheshkhali in Cox's Bazar to process imported LNG. One is operated by US-based Excelerate Energy and the other by Summit.
A fire broke out at Excelerate Energy's facility on 21 July, damaging critical power, control and instrumentation cables and suspending gas supply from the unit.
