Severe gas shortage hits Ctg

CHITTAGONG, June 9: Rise in quantity of condensate in Bibiana Gas Field has led to drastic fall in gas supply to Chittagong for the last four days. The gas supply shortage has severely hampered household chores and production in industrial units of the region.
Chittagong is getting only 181 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) against the demand of 480 mmcfd. As a result, most areas of the region are suffering from gas supply shortage.
City dwellers are forced to buy ready-made foods from hotels, restaurants and confectioneries, as they cannot operate their domestic burners.
The gas crisis has also led to severe shortage of electricity with the gas-fuelled power generation units run hungry. Raozan Thermal Power Plant got only 22 mmcfd of gas against its demand of 98 mmcfd. Shikalbaha Power Plant got only 10.8 mmcfd against its demand of 38 mmcfd, said sources concerned.
A large number of heavy industries are located in Chittagong. But Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Co Ltd (KGDCL) has suspended gas supply to the bulk sector (industries and power production plants).
KGDCL officials said they have suspended gas supply to the industrial units, following allegations from households that domestic burners run dry of gas from morning to evening since Saturday.
The gas supply shortage is acute in the residential areas like Bakolia, Anderkilla, Oxygen, Baizid, Chawkbazar, South Khulshi, Nasirabad, Sholashahar, Kapashgola, Badurtala, Bahaddarhat, Hamzarbag, Agrabad, Jamalkhan and Madarbari.
The crisis has also hit hard the city's CNG (compressed natural gas) filling stations, which are also running short of gas. Long queues of vehicles are seen in front of the filling stations, but they cannot serve gas due to low pressure.
KGDCL GM (engineering) Khondakar Matiur Rahman said they are getting 260-280 mmcfd of gas from the national transmission line for Chittagong from last week.
On Sunday they got 228 mmcfd of gas, and now they are getting around 180-185 mmcfd of gas, as production has declined in Bibiana Gas Field.
Chittagong basically gets gas from the gas-fields in Comilla and Sylhet. So gas supply to Chittagong falls, if quantity of condensate in these fields goes up, he further said.
The gas pipeline of Bibiana Gas Field will be free when condensate in the layer will be removed. KGDCL has written to Petrobangla to take steps in this regard, he added.
Petrobangla, GTCL (Gas Transmission Company Ltd) and BPC (Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation) held a meeting on Monday to discuss the issue, but they are yet to decide on the next course of action.
Meanwhile, the trade body leaders have urged the government to take necessary steps to address the severe gas crunch in Chittagong.
In a letter to Prime Minister's Energy Advisor Dr. Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury on June 8, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Mahbubul Alam said the region is suffering from severe gas shortage since June 6.
Due to the gas crisis machineries in the industries cannot be operated despite hours of preparation for production. Subsequently, entrepreneurs are losing work orders and facing financial problems in paying bank interest on loans and workers' wages, he mentioned in the letter.
The CCCI president sought interference of the Prime Minister's Advisor to take up remedial measures on emergency, short, medium and long term basis to normalize gas supply to Chittagong from the national grid.
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