State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid highlighted the significant challenge of Bangladesh’s gas shortage, revealing a shortfall of nearly 1,000mmcfd compared to the daily demand. Speaking at the national parliament in response to MP M Abdul Latif’s question on Sunday, Hamid stated that the country is currently extracting around 2,050mmcf of gas daily, while the demand stands at approximately 4,000mmcf.
To address this shortage, Hamid detailed ongoing initiatives, including the planned digging of 48 wells by 2025, which is expected to add an average of 618mmcf of gas per day to the national grid. Out of these, 10 wells’ drilling and workover activities have been completed, contributing 118mmcf and 33mmcf of gas per day to the grid, respectively.
Hamid also noted the capacity increase of one of the two floating LNG terminals, elevating the total daily LNG supply capacity to 1,100mmcf. He mentioned a long-term gas production forecast until the fiscal year 2040-41, considering various factors such as domestic gas field exploration, production, unconventional resource extraction, offshore gas exploration, LNG import, and pipeline gas import.
In response to another question, Hamid provided insights into refined fuel oil imports, stating that Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) imports 50% through Government-to-Government (GTU) arrangements and 50% through international open tenders. The refined fuel oil is sourced from state-owned companies in six countries: India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, UAE, and Malaysia.
Regarding electricity imports, Hamid informed that Bangladesh imports 2,656 megawatts of electricity from India daily. Responding to MP Saiful Islam’s query, he shared details on the country’s thermal power plants, stating that there are 141 with a capacity of 23,159 megawatts. Additionally, 18 thermal power plants with a capacity of 11,303 megawatts are under construction or in various stages of the tender process.
To address crude oil import dependence, Hamid outlined the Eastern Refinery Limited’s plan to set up a new refinery with double the capacity of the current unit, aiming for implementation by 2028-29. The comprehensive insights from Nasrul Hamid shed light on Bangladesh’s energy landscape and the strategic measures being taken to address critical challenges.
