Gas crisis of Bangladesh is paradoxical

Jehangir Hussain

Jehangir Hussain

Bangladesh has enough power- generation capacity to provide electricity to all, but a depressing reality is that load-shedding has become a daily affair. The question is why then enough power is not generated?

The answer is that the operators are constrained by shortage of fuels, primarily gas, to run their power plants.>

Why  there should be gas shortage in a deltaic country that is supposed to be gas-rich? The answer lies in the fact that there has been little exploration in last two decades.

And why the nation should be lagging in exploration? An answer that comes clear from  discussions these days is the failure of the authorities to take timely decision when the existing gas reserves began to deplete.

Was it due to poor capability of the gas-exploration agencies to dig for new reserves to replete the reserves, or was it to serve the vested interests by not going for large-scale exploration so that  gas import could benefit them?

The excuse that the prevailing gas crisis and the consequent power cuts are the results of the Russia-Ukraine war is not fully acceptable.

The current gas crisis in the country is not inevitable as it occurred due to not doing enough to lift the gas from under the ground.

Bangladesh, one of the largest deltas in the world, is deemed rich in natural gas. The deltas are always rich in hydrocarbons.

But there is a vested group which opposes explorations to protect their  business interest of importing compressed natural gas (CNG).

Tapping domestic gas resources would, they think, hamper their import business.

Internationally reputed companies have testified that there is more untapped natural gas in Bangladesh than had been extracted by it.

A two-year joint study by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Petrobangla showed that Bangladesh has undiscovered natural gas  to the tune of  about 32 trillion cubic feet.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NDP) found that Bangladesh has 42 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered gas.

The NDP carried out its study in collaboration with a Bangladeshi counterpart, the Hydrocarbon Unit (HCU) under the ministry of energy and power.

jehangirhussain@gmail.com