Gas crisis suffocating industries

If you walk into almost any manufacturing unit in Gazipur, Ashulia, or Narayanganj today, you will not hear the usual deafening hum of machinery. Instead, you are likely to find factory managers staring anxiously at pressure gauges. The harsh reality on the ground is that the ongoing gas crisis is slowly but surely choking the life out of Bangladesh's industrial sector, and the silence on the factory floors is deafening.

We often read high-level macroeconomic analyses about inflation and foreign exchange reserves, but the root of our current industrial paralysis is incredibly basic: we simply do not have the fuel to run our machines. According to recent Petrobangla data, national gas demand currently hovers around 3,800 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), yet total supply-even when combining domestic output and imports-struggles to reach 2,900 mmcfd. A daily deficit of over 900 mmcfd is not just a statistical blip. For a factory owner, it translates into disrupted supply chains, missed export deadlines, forced idle time and massive financial haemorrhage.

For years, policymakers have taken a dangerously myopic approach. Instead of aggressively exploring domestic gas reserves, the country has become heavily dependent on expensive imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Now, with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East pushing spot market prices through the roof, that gamble has backfired spectacularly.

The fallout is visible everywhere. The textile, ceramics and steel sectors are taking the hardest hits. Industrialists are being forced to turn to expensive and unsustainable alternatives such as compressed natural gas (CNG) or diesel just to keep operations afloat.

The authorities must urgently rethink the national energy strategy. First, the long-delayed plans to drill new exploratory and development wells through Bapex and Petrobangla must be fast-tracked without the usual bureaucratic delays. Allocated funds for domestic exploration must be utilised effectively instead of pouring billions into LNG subsidies.

Samin Yasar

samin.yasar11@northsouth.edu