The state owned oil and gas corporation ‘Petrobangla’ has sent a letter to some of its big clients about their next budgetary preparation.
A source close to Energy Division said, Petrobangla and its subsidiaries would finalise the gas price hike formula and forward it to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).
Besides, Petrobangla has already sent a letter to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and fertiliser factories, the big clients of gas, saying that the gas price would be doubled after import of LNG.
Admitting it, Petrobangla Chairman Abul Mansur Md Faizullah told New Nation that they had sent a letter to BPDB and the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) so that they could prepare a budget for gas bill.
It’s necessary to increase the gas price for all consumers as soon as possible, since the imported gas will be injected in April, he said.
The Petrobangla chairman, however, could not say exactly how much costlier it will be and from when the additional price will be effective.
Sources in Petrobangla and the Energy Division said the gas prices would go up by at least 100 per cent with the import of LNG to the national grid, and the government will have to provide subsidy to keep it under the purchase capacity of the mass people.
At present the average cost of per unit of gas is Tk 7.34, but it will be Tk 13 per unit after the imported gas arrives. The power sector alone consumes 41 per cent of the total gas production. But it pays only Tk 3.16 per unit. Fertiliser factories pay only Tk 2.72 per unit for their importance to the agriculture sector.
BPDB Chairman Khaled Mahmud said, “We know that LNG is costive. We are preparing for that.”
BCIC Chairman Shah Mohammed Aminul Haque said, “I have been informed about Petrobangla’s letter. But, fertilisers should be sold at reasonable prices to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Let’s see what happens with the issue in future.”
The fertiliser sector consumes 316 mmcf gas per day, while the power sector needs 1,000 mmcf gas. Petrobangla currently produces 2,691 mmcf gas every day.
Government officials said the country has a deficit of 700-800 mmcf gas per day. The first consignment of LNG will reach Maheshkhali on April 26.
Sources said the LNG price is up in the international market and the price of per thousand cubic feet is more than eight dollars meaning that the government will have to spend more than 1.5 billion dollars annually for importing 1.87 million tonne gas. At the year end, Petrobangla will start importing another 250 mmcf LNG per day.
The government last increased the gas price on February 22, last year, in two phases. The first phase came into effect from March 2017, when the charge for a single burner stove was increased to Tk 750 from Tk 600 and for double burner stove to Tk 800 from Tk 650.
