LNG terminal technical glitch sparks Dhaka gas crisis

Households and CNG filling stations in in Dhaka are struggling with a natural gas supply crunch as the floating LNG terminal has been hit by a technical glitch.

The glitch has caused a daily shortage of 150 million cubic feet gas, which is almost 9 percent of the demand, to the national grid, officials say.

The people in Dhaka City have been made to suffer as the power plants and industrial units are being prioritised for gas supply over the last three days.

Some of the residents in the city called bdnews24.com to share the news of not having gas supply to their kitchens.

“We have been living in this neighbourhood for last three and a half years and there was no problem until now,” said Sathi Biswas, a resident of Naya  Paltan Box Culvert area.

“But we’re not getting gas over the last few days and even if we do, it is only enough to make the cooking stove flame flicker,” she added.

They have been suffering for gas crisis in the neighbourhood for last six months but the crisis extended over the past few days, said a Shaheenbagh resident, Bithi Chowdhury.

Residents from Lalmatia, Badda, Shyamoli and Azimpur said they were facing the same problem.

Locals in Kaderabad Housing, Mohammadpur, Katasur and Zafrabad said they could not cook during the daytime due to the gas crisis.

The pressure of gas is supposed to be 15 pounds per square inch or PSI but it has dropped below 5 PSI at Eureka CNG Filling Station, according to its Service Engineer Nazrul Islam.

One of the two engines in the filling station has been shut down and the other one is facing problem in refuelling vehicles because of the drop in pressure, he said.

The state-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company had stalled the gas supply quite a few times to Mirpur and its surroundings in past two years due to the ongoing construction of the metro rail.

Citizens in Pallabi and Mirpur areas are again suffering from low gas supply.

The residents of Khilkhet, Jatrabarhi, Elephant Road, Eskaton, Moghbazar, Hazaribagh, Dakkhinkhan, Green Road, Nikunja and Jamtala neighbourhoods have also complained of a lack of gas during the day.

“Supply to the areas we cover has dropped due to problems in the supply chain,” Titas Managing Director Mostafa Kamal told bdnews24.com.

The authorities are prioritising supply to the fertiliser factories most now because it is the season for them, according to Mostafa.

“Even the power plants are not getting gas to their requirements. The pressure of gas in the households is only increasing in the evening when the CNG filling stations are closing,” he said.

“We are trying to resolve the issue at the earliest,” the Titas managing director added.

The national grid was receiving 300 million cubic feet natural gas from the floating LNG terminal, said Md Al Mamun, Managing Director of the government-owned Gas Transmission Company Limited or GTCL.

But there has been no supply since Sunday due to technical glitch. The authorities were trying to fix the problem, he said.

Large factories were launched after the supply through the LNG terminal had started, but now the glitch has plunged the industrial plants into a huge problem, he said.

Titas had already been supplying 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which is far less than what is required, daily to the areas it covers, said Quamruzzaman Khan, one of its directors.

“But we got 150 million cubic feet less every day for last three days as the floating LNG terminal stopped supply. It is because of this reason that some of the Dhaka households are not getting gas,” he said.

No statement of the Rupantarita Prakitrik Gas Company Limited, which oversees the LNG terminal at Moheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar, was available on the glitch.

BAPEX, Bangladesh Gas Field, Chevron, Sylhet Gas Field and Tallo Gas Field supply over 2.7 billion cubic feet gas to the national grid daily, according to the GTCL and Petrobangla. An additional 300 million cubic feet of gas has been added to the national grid since mid-August.

The daily requirement of gas in Bangladesh is 3.5 billion cubic feet, a demand that has always remained unfulfilled.