Gas supply is expected to improve from Saturday evening in Dhaka city and elsewhere as a floating LNG Terminal resumed operation from 7 am on Saturday after three days of suspension.
“We hope, gas supply situation will improve by this evening”, Eng Md Rafiqul Islam, Director (Operation & Mines) told UNB.
He said the resumption of supply from the LNG terminal will increase gas supply by 210 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).
He said the country’s two LNG terminals will together supply 780 mmcfd against their capacity of 1100 mmcfd.
“It means there is still shortage of 320 mmcfd,” he said adding that the nagging gas crisis will not be fully resolved soon.
Gas supply to be low countrywide for 72 hours from Wednesday
A top official of Petrobangla said that the two LNG terminals need at least 10 cargoes for the month of January but so far 7 cargoes are confirmed for supply.
The consumers in Dhaka city and elsewhere have been experiencing acute gas crisis for last several months.
But situation severely deteriorated from Wednesday last when one LNG Terminal, operated by Excelerate Energy, went on repair and maintenance work.
Petrobangla in a press release had said that countrywide low pressure will prevail in gas supply for 72 hours (3 days) from January 1 to January 4 due to suspension of operation of a LNG station, known as floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU).
Currently, the country has two FSRUs which supply about 1000-1100 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) of the total gas production of 2900 MMCFD.
Meanwhile, consumers in many areas in the city alleged that they are not getting gas to cook.
Gas supply to halt for 11 hours Wednesday in parts of Dhaka city
Abdur Rahman, a resident of Rayerbazar area, said,” We suffer all the year round due to short supply of gas but the situation turned worse in the last three days. Now we have to buy food as we have no gas to cook.”
Aysha Chowdhury, a resident of Malinagh area and Jahanara of Shantinagar area also expressed anger for the suffering they have been enduring for the last of days for poor supply of gas.