Govt plans to raise gas production by 500 MMCFD
Monday, 8 June 2009
The government has planned to increase the gas production by 500 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) to meet an ever-growing demand from the power sector amid huge electricity shortages, reports UNB.
Of the additional amount, 200 MMCFD will come under a short-term plan while the rest 300 MMCFD to be arranged under a mid-term plan.
Prime Minister's Adviser Dr Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury Bir Bikram unveiled the action plan after a meeting with the chiefs of the electronic media at Power and Energy Ministry Sunday.
The meeting, presided over by State Minister for Power Shamsul Haque Tuku, was convened to discuss the government decision to advance the clock's time by an hour from June 19 midnight.
"We'll increase the gas production through technological improvements in gas fields," he told reporters, without giving any detail of the planning.
The country has long been experiencing about 2000-MW electricity shortage and lack of adequate gas supply has been blamed for this crisis.
The new Awami League government has promised in election manifesto that it would increase power production to 7500 megawatts from the present output of 3,500 MWs. This plan is also facing a challenge for gas crisis.
Referring to this bottleneck, Dr Chowdhury, a former energy secretary, said that the power crisis is not possible to be resolved unless there is an increase in the gas production.
Corroborating the PM's adviser's statement, State Minister for Power Shamsul Haque Tuku said that the government is making its full effort to increase gas production.
"It's not true we remained idle. We've taken different measures to increase the gas and power production. We're not avoiding the crisis through introduction of daylight-saving measure," he said.
Of the additional amount, 200 MMCFD will come under a short-term plan while the rest 300 MMCFD to be arranged under a mid-term plan.
Prime Minister's Adviser Dr Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury Bir Bikram unveiled the action plan after a meeting with the chiefs of the electronic media at Power and Energy Ministry Sunday.
The meeting, presided over by State Minister for Power Shamsul Haque Tuku, was convened to discuss the government decision to advance the clock's time by an hour from June 19 midnight.
"We'll increase the gas production through technological improvements in gas fields," he told reporters, without giving any detail of the planning.
The country has long been experiencing about 2000-MW electricity shortage and lack of adequate gas supply has been blamed for this crisis.
The new Awami League government has promised in election manifesto that it would increase power production to 7500 megawatts from the present output of 3,500 MWs. This plan is also facing a challenge for gas crisis.
Referring to this bottleneck, Dr Chowdhury, a former energy secretary, said that the power crisis is not possible to be resolved unless there is an increase in the gas production.
Corroborating the PM's adviser's statement, State Minister for Power Shamsul Haque Tuku said that the government is making its full effort to increase gas production.
"It's not true we remained idle. We've taken different measures to increase the gas and power production. We're not avoiding the crisis through introduction of daylight-saving measure," he said.