Despite being home to some of the country’s largest natural gas reserves, the greater Sylhet region is now facing an acute gas supply crisis due to declining domestic production and shortages of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Officials said the region is currently experiencing rationing of around 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) against an average demand of 430mmcfd.
“Previously, Jalalabad Transmission and Distribution had no supply shortfall as the system was established near the gas field mouth,” said Md Atiqur Rahman, managing director of Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd (JGTDSL), during a recent visit by Just Energy News earlier this month.
“But nationwide gas rationing among distribution companies has created a shortfall in natural gas supply,” he added.
According to Rahman, the company is currently supplying between 340mmcfd and 360mmcfd, well below the region’s total demand of 430mmcfd.
The supply crunch has also delayed approvals for new industrial gas connections, which would require an additional 25mmcfd of gas.
“We are receiving only around 15% of the total natural gas supply from the national grid,” he said.
Government data shows that gas supply to the energy-rich Sylhet region has fallen significantly over the past four fiscal years.
During the period, Petrobangla reportedly withdrew around 704.11 million cubic metres (MMcm) of gas from the region as production from local fields declined.
“We are distributing natural gas to different categories of consumers according to allocation,” Rahman said.
He noted that output from local gas fields continues to decline and allocations now depend heavily on overall national grid supply and LNG imports.
“So we are rationing natural gas supply like other distribution companies,” he added.
JGTDSL currently serves around 221,864 consumers with a daily gas requirement of approximately 355mmcfd under the revised allocation framework.
Its customer base includes 19 power plants, 148 captive power plants, one fertiliser factory, 59 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, 147 industrial units, 100 tea estates, 1,180 commercial consumers and a large number of residential users.
The company is also facing a manpower shortage, with only 438 employees currently working against 924 approved posts.
Power plants account for the largest share of gas consumption, using around 197.06mmcfd, or nearly 60 per cent of total supply. Captive power plants consume another 38.61mmcfd.
To reduce losses, Jalalabad Gas has launched a new leakage survey programme targeting residential consumers in an effort to minimise its 0.70 per cent system loss.
“I can assure you that we have no system loss in power plants, tea gardens or industrial consumers,” Rahman said. “The losses are mainly among residential consumers.”
“We are hopeful of reducing the losses through the leakage survey,” he added.
Bangladesh currently has 29 discovered gas fields. Of these, 11 fields in the greater Sylhet region — including Bibiyana, Moulvibazar, Jalalabad, Habiganj, Kailashtila, Rashidpur and Haripur — contribute more than 60% of the country’s total natural gas output and still hold prospects for additional reserves.