A technical fault at one of Bangladesh's floating LNG terminals has disrupted gas supplies across the country, prompting low pressure for households, industries and CNG stations, although the government expects normal supply to resume within two to three days.
Joint Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), Monir Hossain Chowdhury, told a press conference on Wednesday that repair work is underway and the disruption is only temporary.
He said mechanical problems at one of the country's two FSRUs have reduced gas pressure, resulting in long queues at some compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations and lower gas supplies to industries, power plants and households.
Long queues of vehicles were seen at many CNG filling stations across the country on Wednesday as a result of the disruption.
Sources said a technical fault at Excelerate Energy's FSRU in Maheshkhali disrupted LNG supplies on Tuesday, reducing gas injection into the national grid.
The incident resulted in around a 40 per cent reduction in LNG regasification, bringing supplies down to about 600 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) on Tuesday from nearly 1.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd) the previous day, according to Petrobangla sources.
Consumers said the disruption has intensified gas shortages in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh, where many households have been left with little or no gas for cooking for much of the day.
In some areas, supplies have stopped altogether, while factories in major industrial zones have reportedly been forced to reduce production because of low gas pressure.
Despite the gas shortage, the EMRD official said there is no fuel oil shortage in the country.
Current fuel stocks are sufficient for 31 days of diesel, 36 days of octane, 20 days of petrol, 25 days of furnace oil and 20 days of jet fuel, Monir Hossain said.
Azizjst@yahoo.com