Rough weather in the Bay of Bengal has sharply worsened Bangladesh’s gas supply crisis, cutting more than 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from the national grid and forcing authorities to ration supplies to households, small industries and power plants.
Petrobangla, the state-owned gas company, said supplies had fallen to about 2,040 mmcfd from 2,680 mmcfd over the past three days as adverse weather disrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports through floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs).
“We are trying to increase the supply to power generation as per the instruction of the government,” a Petrobangla official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said rough seas had reduced LNG deliveries from Summit’s FSRU to just 110 mmcfd. Supplies are expected to rise once weather conditions improve.
An FSRU operated by Excelerate is currently supplying about 300 mmcfd to the national grid, according to the official.
The disruption has also affected households. Residents in parts of Dhaka have reported extremely low gas pressure, leaving some families unable to cook for much of the day.
“We are suffering a lot and failed to cook our meals all day long till midnight because of poor pressure, even at night,” a resident of the Bashundhara residential area said.
Petrobangla has been increasing gas allocations to power plants to about 900 mmcfd as the authorities seek to protect electricity generation from further disruption.
Bangladesh Power Development Board chairman Engineer Rezaul Karim said the authorities were working to bring several power units back into operation.
“We are trying to operate nine units of power plants at Ashuganj and other hubs,” he told Just Energy News.
He said the continuing shortage of gas was making it difficult to operate the plants immediately, but officials were working to restore generation capacity.
The gas shortage has been particularly severe in rural areas, where prolonged disruption has prompted frustrated residents in some locations to stage protests and besiege local Palli Bidyut (rural electricity) offices.
The latest disruption highlights Bangladesh’s continued vulnerability to weather-related interruptions in LNG supplies, with the country relying heavily on imported gas to support both electricity generation and domestic consumption.