Anisul Islam Noor :Liquefied Petroleum (LP) is not becoming popular in the country, as its price is four times higher than that of pipeline gas. The LP gas cannot be the alternative to pipeline gas unless price is balanced, experts said.Gas consumption through pipeline in household costs only Tk 450 per month, whereas a family has to spend at least Tk 2,000 for LP gas consumption. And that is why, experts suggest subsidy to the LP gas sector so that it can be available at a cheaper price. According to a government assessment, there is demand for about three lakh tonnes of LP gas in the country (2 crore 40 lakh units 12-kg cylinders) a year.Another government statistics of 2012 says, a total of one lakh tonnes of LP gas was supplied by the government and non-government companies, which increased to 1 lakh and 65 thousand tonnes this year.Demand for LP gas is increasing. LP gas is now used not only for household cooking or at restaurants, but also as fuel for vehicles.Local companies Bashundhara, Jamuna Spacetech, Omera LPG and OBM Energy, and foreign companies Petregaz (formerly Kleenheat) and Totalgaz import LP gas in the country. Omera and BM Energy supply up to one lakh tonnes each annually. Bashundhara is manufacturing cylinders as well.The government-run LP Gas Company Limited supplies about 20 thousand tonnes of gas in the market, while the private companies supply about 1.5 lakh tonnes. The total supply being half of the total demand, the customers became worried about whether they would get gas regularly, specially, during festivals. LP gas is dear to the customers during Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha and on some occasions. A section of dealers and suppliers raise gas price cashing the occasions, and cheat the customers. Petregaz General Manager Saidul Islam said there may be short supply sometimes for transport crisis. Some users sometimes preserve extra cylinders which also may affect gas availability in the market, and the local sales agents can also create artificial crisis, which could be monitored by the government agencies. TK Gas (Supergas) and Bin Habib Bangladesh Ltd do not import but market gas after buying it from other companies and bottle it in their own plants. Sena Kalyan Sangstha, Navana, Orion and Index companies import and market gas after bottling it. Following the international market, LP gas price is showing sliding trend in the local market also. The two main components of the LP gas is Propen and Buten, which was $700 per tonne in May-June in the international market in 2012, and sold at Tk 1,600 per cylinder. Now per tonne Propen and Bhutane sell at $500, and so it is sold at Tk 1200 per 12-kg cylinders. Meanwhile, customers have expressed their misgiving about the possible rise of LP cylinder prices. Customer Abdul Hamid from Barisal said, “Price hike and unavailability of LP gas on Eid occasion is a regular phenomenon.”Suppliers said, Saudi company Aramco fixes price of LP gas in the international market, and announce the rate of Propane and Butane on the first day of every month. And so the price can fluctuate, they said. There are allegations about quality and quantity of LP gas supply in cylinders. Customers said, they do not benefit from all brands equally. Some cylinders can provide cooking fuel for 20 days for a 4-member family while some of the products cannot provide fuel for even 15 days for lack of quality let alone quantity. Customers also alleged of gas leaks which spread all over the house. As a liquid substance, LP gas is also convenient as fuel oil for cars. It acts like petrol-octane for the engine of a car and keeps it cool. A car can run nine kilometres with one litre of LP gas. But LP gas is economical at Tk 59 per litre whereas prices of petrol and octane are Tk 96 and Tk 99 respectively.
