United News of Bangladesh

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Monday once again apologised to the public for the ongoing gas crisis, expressing hope that supply will 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 is making every possible effort to resolve the crisis, which has severely affected households, industries and transport services. "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 of Cox’s Bazar where the technical fault occurred, he said the facility normally supplies around 500 to 550 million cubic feet of gas per day. According to information provided by the operator, the state minister said, the FSRU is expected to resume supplying around 280 to 300 million cubic feet of gas per day to the national grid from next week. "If they can restore about 50 percent of the supply next week, the plan is to return to 100 percent capacity in the following week," he added.  

Gas supply will remain suspended for eight hours in several areas of Dhaka on Tuesday as Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited are set to carry out pipeline replacement work. According to a notice issued by the company on Monday, gas supply will remain shut from 12:00pm to 8:00pm in the Free School Street, Bhuter Goli, Kitchen Road, Al Amin Road and Kathalbagan areas. The suspension will affect both residential and commercial consumers, it said. Titas Gas said the disruption is necessary to replace old leaking distribution pipelines and service lines in the Free School Street, Hatirpool, Pukurpar and Dhanmondi areas. The company also warned that consumers in surrounding areas may experience low gas pressure during the maintenance work. It apologised for the temporary inconvenience to be caused for customers and sought their cooperation during the scheduled maintenance.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC suspended gas supply to the capital's Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and adjacent areas on Sunday following damage to one of its pipelines. In a notice, the state-run gas distributor said a gas line was damaged in Gulshan-Badda Link Road area, prompting authorities to shut valves as a precautionary measure to prevent casualties and property loss. Repair works are underway at the affected sections of the pipeline, the company said. Titas did not specify when supply would be restored but expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to residents of the affected areas.  

Gas supply to the national grid resumed on Monday morning from Well No. 3 of the Rashidpur gas field in Bahubal upazila of Habiganj, following renovation work. Surman Bikash Das, deputy general manager of Rashidpur Gas Field, said around 8 million cubic feet of gas will be supplied daily from the well. Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) began the renovation of the decades-old well on July 12, completing the work at a cost of approximately Tk 73 crore. Titas cuts off 2,370 illegal gas connections in 3 cities Following this, a new gas layer was discovered on September 5. Officials estimate the newly accessed layer could yield about 25.55 billion cubic feet of gas over the next 10 years. Condensate will also be extracted as a by-product. Currently, an average of 62 million cubic feet of gas is being supplied daily to the national grid from 7 of the 11 wells in the Rashidpur gas field.    

Industries will get an additional gas supply of 250 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from the existing system. Energy Adviser Dr. Fouzul Kabir Khan announced this after a meeting with the leaders of the business sector at his office in the Power and Energy Ministry on Wednesday. He said 150 mmcfd gas will be curtailed from the power sector while 100 mmcfd will be added from the import of four extra LNG cargoes. The power sector is currently getting 1200 mmcfd gas from Petrobangla. He admitted that this step will lead to a decline in power generation. “But we will run more liquid fuel-based power plants to increase the power generation,” he told reporters after the meeting. He also noted that the government will take measures to increase the gas supply through enhancement of local production and import. “We’ll import four more LNG cargoes in addition to the existing annual plan,” he said. Currently, Petrobangla supplies a total of about 2740 mmcfd of gas through production from local fields and imported LNG. Push-ins must follow formal channels: Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Of this, about 1,700 mmcfd gas comes from local fields and the remaining 1000 mmcfd comes from imported LNG. The adviser said that the meeting took a number of decisions including that Titas Gas and industrial investors’ leaders will set up a joint taskforce to oversee and check the illegal use of gas by industries. Besides, the government and industry leaders will identify the industrial areas to increase the gas supply. He said the government has been drilling 100 wells which will add about 500 mmcfd gas in the next two years. Former FBCCI president AK Azad led the business leaders’ delegation.

Vast areas in the capital and its outskirts may experience low pressure in gas supply for 12 hours from Wednesday to Thursday. According to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC, due to urgent maintenance work at its Aminbazar DRS, there may be low gas pressure from 6 pm  on Wednesday (April 2) to 6 am on Thursday (April 3) at in the areas in Dhaka Metropolitan including Aminbazar, Mirpur, both sides of Mirpur Road, Shyamoli, Adabor, Agargaon, Mohammadpur, Lalmatia, Dhanmondi, Hazaribagh, Kamrangirchar, Keraniganj (from Kholamura to Kalatia, Hazratpur), Hatirpool, Farmgate, Azimpur, New Market, Lalbagh, Shahbagh, and surrounding areas. Consumers may face low gas pressure in Dhaka Tuesday, Wednesday The similar low pressure will prevail in Savar and Hemayetpur areas in the outskirts of the capital. The authorities sincerely apologise for the temporary inconvenience, said the Titas Gas PLC.

Gas supply will remain suspended for 8 hours in the northern part of Dhaka on Thursday. According to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC, gas supply will remain off to all types of customers in Nikunja-1, Nikunja-2, Khilkhet area, Concord City (up to the riverbank), Namapara, and the surrounding areas will remain suspended for a total of eight hours from 6 am to 2 pm on Thursday for the removal of underground gas pipelines for MRT Line-1. Gas supply to remain off for 6 hours in parts of capital on Sunday The consumers in the adjoining areas may experience low pressure in gas supply during this period, said Titas Gas, regretting to its customers for the temporary inconvenience.

Gas supply will remain suspended for 6 hours in different areas in the northern part of the capital on Sunday. Gas supply will remain off for all kinds of consumers from 8 am to 2 pm (six hours) in the adjacent areas from Kamarpara Bridge to Balaka Bhaban on Sunday for the relocation of existing gas pipelines to facilitate the construction works of the MRT Line-1 under Dhaka Mass Transport Company Limited, said Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC. Gas supply to remain off for 10 hrs in parts of Dhaka Thursday Consumers in the adjacent areas, including all sectors in Uttara, Uttarkhan, and Dakkhin Khan, may experience low pressure in gas supply, said the Titas Gas authority, regretting the temporary inconvenience to its customers. Top business leaders urge BERC to reject proposal on raising gas price

Gas supply will remain off for 13 hours in different areas in the northern part of Dhaka city. According to a notice of the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC, the areas where gas supply will remain suspended for all categories of customers from 1 pm on Thursday to 2 am on Friday include Kurmitola Hospital, Hotel Radisson, RPGCL, Dhaka Regency Hotel, Khilkhet area, Concord City (up to river bank), Hotel La Meridian, Balaka Bhaban, Haji Camp, Catering House at Kaola, and Civil Aviation Quarter. Low pressure in gas supply may prevail in the adjacent areas including Joar Sahara, and Nikunja, said the Titas Gas, regretting the temporary inconvenience to its consumers.

Gas supply will remain suspended for 12 hours in Monohardi upazila in Narsingdi and Kishoreganj on Wednesday. According to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC, the gas supply will remain off for 12 hours from 6 pm on Wednesday to 6 am on Thursday in Kishoreganj district and Monohardi upazila due to modification works of the gas metering stations. Gas supply likely to improve this evening in Dhaka city, elsewhere During the period, low pressure in gas supply may prevail in Narsingdi district, eastern part of Dhaka City, Kaliganj, Jaydevpur, Konabari, Chandra and adjacent areas, said the Titas Gas regretting the inconvenience of its consumers. Gas supply to be low countrywide for 72 hours from Wednesday