Chattogram Bureau :
The sudden drop in LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports earlier this year has created a crisis in the gas used in residential and power generation across the country. The production of government power plants in Chittagong was also stopped due to lack of gas. Although the net pipeline has the capacity to supply one thousand cubic feet of gas, the supply dropped to 200 million cubic feet by mid-January. But the crisis is already over.
LNG imports have started to become normal. The Maheshkhali LNG terminal has already started supplying 500 million cubic feet of gas daily. This has increased the supply of gas in Chittagong. Production has started at Shikalbaha 150 MW dual fuel power plant.
According to RPGCL sources, after importing LNG, two terminals came into operation and 5-6 imported LNG tankers used to come every month. Currently, only GTZ gas is being imported from Qatar and Oman. It has been receiving 4 ships a month since last December. Ship arrivals also declined as imports from the spot market stopped due to rising prices. As a result, LNG supply was reduced to one-fifth.
The ministry decided to re-import LNG from the spot market last February to alleviate the gas crisis. It also approved a proposal to import LNG from a Singapore-based company.
Besides, the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources took steps to normalize gas imports at the GTZ level. RPGCL (Converted Natural Gas Company Limited) has started supplying 500 million cubic feet of gas per day from imported LNG since the beginning of March.
An official of Karnafuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL) said on condition of anonymity that the supply of gas has gradually increased over the last few days. Now 300 million cubic feet of gas is available daily from LNG. Since then, the supply to the closed power plant has started.
