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Govt steps up drive to ease ENERGY crisis
Daily Sun Report, Dhaka
Published: 02 Sep 2026, 12:00 AM
The government has taken a series of short-, medium- and long-term measures to tackle the country’s ongoing gas crisis, including increasing costly spot-market LNG imports, accelerating a programme to drill and work over 150 wells, and exploring gas imports from Myanmar and Malaysia.
It has also decided to reduce gas use in power plants and increase oil-fired generation to free up more gas for industries.
Following Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s decisions and directives to address the energy crisis quickly, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and relevant agencies are working together on the measures.
The multi-pronged plan includes importing LNG from the spot market, exploring alternative sources of gas, increasing domestic gas exploration and production, and changing the fuel mix for power generation to ensure the most economical use of available gas.
Officials said the ministry and Petrobangla, led by Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku, are working to address the short-term supply shortage while implementing a long-term plan to increase domestic gas production and reduce dependence on imports.
The government’s aim is to keep industrial production running, bring stability to power supplies and gradually
reduce reliance on costly imported LNG. According to Petrobangla sources, uncertainty over long-term LNG supplies has forced the state-run company to buy cargoes from the spot market at high prices. The two cargoes purchased last week cost more than $24 per MMBtu.
The list of LNG suppliers is also being expanded to ensure uninterrupted supplies. While 29 companies are currently enlisted, moves are under way to add nine more.
The global LNG supply situation has become more uncertain following Qatar’s suspension of supplies. QatarEnergy suspended its LNG operations and declared force majeure following disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the US-Iran conflict. Bangladesh was scheduled to receive 56 LNG cargoes under long-term contracts in the current fiscal year, but with supplies cancelled until November, Petrobangla expects to receive only half of those cargoes. The government is therefore also looking for alternative sources.
Discussions have begun on a proposal to import gas from Myanmar through a pipeline. The old proposal to build a pipeline from Myanmar to Chattogram is being revived, while the possibility of importing gas from Myanmar in the form of LNG has also been discussed.
Meanwhile, the government has taken an in-principle decision to import gas from Malaysia using cryogenic lorry tankers, or the ISO method. The process, aimed at ensuring faster gas supplies to industries, could take around six months. The government has also asked for steps to bring LNG from Australia.
1,401 MMcfd additional gas expected by 2030
The government is also focusing on increasing domestic production as a lasting solution to the gas crisis. If Petrobangla’s programme to drill and work over 150 wells is fully implemented, around 1,401 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) of additional gas is expected to be produced by 2030.
Work on 29 wells has already been completed. These wells have secured around 270.8 MMcfd of gas resources, of which about 125.3 MMcfd is being supplied to the national grid. Drilling and workover operations are under way at another eight wells. Once completed, these are expected to add around 90 MMcfd to the national grid. Plans are in place to complete exploration, development and workover of the remaining 113 wells in phases.
Petrobangla Director (PSC and Operation & Mines) Engineer Md Shoaib said that, alongside the 150-well programme, extensive exploration is under way to find new gas reserves. Initiatives are being taken to quickly drill exploration wells after identifying promising structures through seismic surveys.
The importance of these initiatives has increased as domestic gas production continues to decline. According to Petrobangla data, daily domestic gas production has fallen from 2,500 MMcfd to around 1,600 MMcfd over the past six years. At the same time, demand for gas in the power and industrial sectors has increased. Total gas demand in the country is now around 4,000 MMcfd. On Tuesday, 2,329 MMcfd was supplied to the national grid, including 711 MMcfd from LNG.
Save gas for industry, use oil for power
To increase gas supplies to industries, the government has taken steps to reduce gas use in power plants and operate furnace-oil-fired plants at maximum capacity. The plants’ ability to purchase fuel is being strengthened by clearing outstanding electricity bills. If the oil-fired plants return to near-full capacity within the next two weeks, they could add around 2,500 megawatts to the national grid.
To this end, the government has provided the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) with a Tk6,000 crore interest-free loan. The money will be used to purchase furnace oil. The fund is intended to support average daily generation of 4,000MW from oil-fired plants.
Through the coordinated measures, the government is seeking to increase power generation and reduce load-shedding while freeing up gas used in the power sector for industries to keep production running.
Energy expert Prof M Tamim told this correspondent that the decision to reduce gas supplies to power plants to some extent and divert the gas to industries is realistic under the current circumstances. However, he said dependence on oil-fired power generation should not be increased in the long term.
Overall, the government is addressing the immediate crisis by purchasing LNG at high prices while simultaneously exploring new gas sources, increasing production from existing fields and creating avenues for gas imports from alternative countries. At the same time, increasing oil-fired power generation and reducing gas use in power plants could create scope for supplying more gas to the industrial sector.