Petrobangla has begun rationing gas supplies from Wednesday as Bangladesh grapples with mounting energy shortages and uncertainty over liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports.
Petrobangla chairman Md Erfanul Haque said an order had been issued to begin rationing gas distribution with immediate effect.
The measures include cutting 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas supply to the power sector and temporarily shutting down all fertiliser factories except the Shahjalal fertiliser plant. The closure of the other fertiliser factories is expected to save around 130 mmcfd of natural gas.
A further 20 mmcfd will be rationed across other sectors as part of a total planned reduction of 200 mmcfd nationwide.
The chairman said a tender issued on 3 March to purchase LNG from the spot market attracted no bidders. A fresh tender was floated on 4 March.
Four LNG cargoes scheduled for March have already crossed the Strait of Hormuz, but authorities remain concerned about two additional cargoes due on 15 and 18 March. Bangladesh has written to QatarEnergy seeking clarification, but has yet to receive a final response. In its reply, QatarEnergy indicated that emergency clauses in the contract could potentially apply, limiting Bangladesh’s scope to make alternative arrangements.
As a result, the government has decided to cut daily gas supply by 200 million cubic feet, which officials estimate will save around 1.4 billion cubic feet over the next seven days.
According to Petrobangla sources, approximately 170 million cubic feet of gas per day had previously been allocated to fertiliser production. That supply is now being fully suspended, apart from the Shahjalal plant. Gas supply to the power sector is also being reduced from 870 mmcfd to 820 mmcfd.
Officials said four LNG cargoes expected to arrive on 3, 5, 9 and 11 March have already passed through the Strait of Hormuz and should be sufficient to maintain supply for between 12 and 15 days. Bangladesh plans to import nine LNG cargoes in March, including six from Qatar and two from Australia.
In total, Petrobangla aims to import nine cargoes in March, 11 in April and 11 in May. Of these, 19 cargoes are expected to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy shipping route.
Each cargo contains roughly 3 billion cubic feet of gas, slightly less than Bangladesh’s daily demand. Domestic sources currently supply around 1.7 billion cubic feet per day, supplemented by between 800 million and 1 billion cubic feet per day of imported LNG. The country’s two floating LNG terminals at Maheshkhali have a maximum regasification capacity of 1.1 billion cubic feet per day.