Staff Reporter:
Consumers are likely to experience an acute gas crisis again as one of the two floating LNG terminals is scheduled to be shut for maintenance work starting Friday.
According to a press release, liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply will remain suspended for 72 hours from 12:00 pm on Friday to 12:00 pm on Monday at the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), operated by Excelerate Energy at Moheshkhali, for repair and maintenance work.
During this period, another FSRU will continue to supply around 550-560 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd).
However, low gas pressure will prevail in some areas of the country due to the reduction in gas supply.
Officials said the two LNG terminals have a total capacity of over 1,100 mmcfd of gas supply.
With the shutdown, the supply will be cut in half, leading to an acute crisis across the country.
Currently, the country is already facing a shortage of about 1,100-1,200 mmcfd of gas, as it can supply 2,900 mmcfd against a total demand of about 3,900-4,000 mmcfd.
Earlier, the same FSRU underwent repair and maintenance work for 72 hours from 1 January to 4 January, which further aggravated the supply situation.
As a result, consumers in many areas of Dhaka city and elsewhere experienced an acute crisis.
Many had to resort to alternative arrangements, such as using LPG or electric ovens to cook their meals, due to lack of gas or low pressure.
Following the completion of the repair work, gas supply started improving on 4 January.
However, just within a week, the operation of the LNG terminal is again set to be suspended for maintenance.
