The government decided to supply Bhola’s non-grid gas to the industries in Gazipur and Tangail.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina already endorsed a summary report to supply the gas in CNG format initially, an official familiar with the matter said.
“We have taken a decision to keep gas supply at 3000 mmcfd till June while the demand is over 4000 mmcfd. We have a plan to supply 5 mmcfd natural gas from Bhola island to the districts in CNG format,” said Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker.
He was speaking to the energy sector reporters at a views-exchange meeting at Petrobangla conference room on Thursday.
Sarker said that the grid gas supply through a pipeline from Bhola Gas Field would need at least 3-5 years.
“So, we will initially supply 5 mmcfd gas in LNG format with the help of local company Intraco in early June this year. The company will gradually increase the supply,” Petrobangla chairman said.
“The prime minister has already approved a summary in this regard. We will start supplying gas once the Economic Affairs Committee of the Cabinet clears it,” he added.
He said the premier also allowed imports of 12 LNG from the spot market to keep the daily natural gas supply at 3000 mmcfd.
Sarker added that the government also has a plan to import 65 LNG cargoes in the long term.
 The Petrobangla chairman said the government made a projection that the country’s demand for natural gas would reach 5600 mmcfd by 2030.
“We have a capacity to supply 3000 mmcfd of natural gas against the demand of 4000 mmcfd now. Of them, 2250 mmcfd comes from local gas fields and the remaining 850 mmcfd from LNG imports,” he said.
The government plans to install another three FSRU, one implemented by Summit, one Excelerate and another by the state-owned company, to meet the future demand.
“But we will need fresh floating storage capacity or land-based LNG to complete the term sheet agreement (TSA) by early 2025,” he informed.
Besides, the petrobangla also targets to complete the 46 work-over, exploratory and development wells by 2024 instead of 2025, according to him.  
“We have already completed preparation for 16 Development Project Proposals (DPPs) to implement the task. Of them, local company BAPEX drilled 28 wells through its four rigs and the rest through open tender and through negotiation to get 600 mmcfd output from local gas fields,” the Petrobangla chairman said.
He added that Dipon Gas and Krish Energy companies proposed to import gas through the private sector.