It is proved once again that when the people are already struggling to survive, Petrobangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation) has proposed to increase the price of gas in the country. It seems that this service organisation doesn’t even have minimum transparency or accountability. If the gas price is hiked, it will be a deadly blow to people. This organisation reportedly could not answer many of the questions raised at the public hearing organised by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) on Monday. Even the data and information, presented by them, was inconsistent.
Energy experts and the Consumers Association Bangladesh (CAB) at the hearing strongly suggested Petrobangla to reduce its deficit by cutting down various taxes, theft and wastage instead of hiking gas prices. They questioned, despite there being a huge reserve of gas in the country, Petrobangla is importing LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) at increased price instead of going for extraction. This is making the energy sector dependent on others while consumers are paying an extra price. Besides, Petrobangla is showing a system loss of 8 per cent, whereas in other countries system loss stands at only 2 per cent. On one side, it is disconnecting illegal lines, on the other the thieves restore illegal connections and steal the gas. It’s like a cat and mouse game.
At the beginning of the hearing, Petrobangla proposed to set the gas price at Tk 15.30 per unit (cubic metre). Whereas, the technical evaluation committee said Petrobangla’s cost is only Tk 12.47. Earlier, while hiking the price, gas import was estimated at 85 crore cubic metres per day on average. However, Petrobangla’s daily import was 29 crore cubic metre, much less than the amount mentioned. This way, Petrobangla earned Tk 2,500 crore extra. In 2019, wholesale gas price was set at Tk 12.60 per cubic metre. But BERC directed to sell at Tk 9.37 after providing subsidy on per unit. Then gas price was hiked once again in 2020, considering Petrobangla’s cost at Tk 12.60 per cubic metre. But consumers paid only Tk 9.36 on average; the rest of it was paid to Petrobangla as a subsidy by the energy security fund and government treasury.
Public life has become unbearable with the soaring price of daily essential commodities. We urge the government not to raise gas prices at the moment. Rather, the government can earn more revenue, if it is able to stop theft and waste in the name of system loss.
