LNG send-out nears regular volume after nearly two months<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gas supply has returned to the level seen before the crisis began on July 21, as LNG output from the two floating terminals in Moheshkhali rose to nearly their regular volume for the first time in almost two months.<\/strong>At noon yesterday, the total gas supply reached 2,610 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd): the two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) provided 990mmcfd and the domestic gas fields 1,620mmcfd, according to the latest data from Petrobangla.Before the July 21 disruption at one of the two FSRUs, Bangladesh was receiving around 1,000mmcfd of LNG, while total gas supply generally hovered around 2,600-2,650mmcfd.The latest figure therefore puts the gas system back around its pre-crisis supply level after weeks of shortages that disrupted factories, constrained electricity generation and caused severe pressure problems in industrial areas.Power generation has also begun improving as the gas-fired plants are getting around 950mmcfd of gas, up from 870mmcfd in the last couple of weeks, according to Md Zahurul Islam, member (generation) at the Bangladesh Power Development Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to the increased allocation, gas-fired power generation could reach around 5,500 megawatts (MW), he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Power Grid Bangladesh data also show the upward trend: gas-fired generation, which had frequently remained below or around 5,000MW during the shortage, has recently crossed 5,100MW for several hours. It reached as high as 5,474 MW yesterday, compared with output of below 5,000MW the previous day.The recovery came a day after Prime Minister Tarique Rahman assured business leaders that gas and electricity supplies would improve from Tuesday evening following increased LNG availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For industries, the increased gas availability should provide some breathing space after weeks of severe pressure shortages.How much relief factories actually receive, however, will depend on how the additional gas is distributed through the transmission and distribution networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crisis began on July 21 after a technical incident at Excelerate Energy\u2019s FSRU disrupted operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Average gas supply in August fell to around 2,235mmcfd, which is around the same level as in April 2020, when industries, offices and much of the economy were shut during the Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Industries in Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur and other major manufacturing areas reported severe pressure shortages during the crisis, forcing factories to cut production, suspend units and rely on expensive alternative fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, improvement on both the gas and electricity fronts does not mean the country\u2019s longstanding gas shortage has been resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Official estimates put demand at around 3,860mmcfd, leaving a deficit of roughly 1,250mmcfd, or about 32 percent of demand, even after supply returned to the pre-crisis range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Domestic gas production has continued to decline and is now hovering around 1,600mmcfd, leaving Bangladesh increasingly dependent on imported LNG simply to keep total supply near 2,600mmcfd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two floating terminals at Moheshkhali can together supply around 1,000mmcfd under normal operating conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Long-term LNG supplies from Qatar were disrupted after the US-Israel war on Iran, forcing Bangladesh to increase purchases from the spot market on an emergency basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spot LNG prices have since risen to nearly $30 per million British thermal units for some cargoes, compared with around $10-$12 before the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LNG send-out nears regular volume after nearly two months Gas supply has returned to the level seen before the crisis began on July 21, as LNG output from the two floating terminals in Moheshkhali rose to nearly their regular volume for the first time in almost two months.At noon yesterday, the total gas supply reached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangladesh","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n