The country’s falling gas production continues to plague the industries, seriously threatening exports and e m p l o y m e n t generation.
The interim government has hiked LNG imports to address the crisis, but the move is far from being enough.
The industry leaders are calling on the government to take urgent steps to mitigate the crisis, or else.
Even four years ago, the country’s daily gas production ranged between 2,300 and 2,400 million cubic feet. Now, it has fallen to only 1,700 million cubic feet per day on average, impacting vehicle refueling services, power stations, residents and industries.
According to Petrobangla, the daily demand is over 4,200 million cubic feet, but only 2,830 million cubic feet was produced recently.
The crisis is leaving industries with underutilized goods production capacity, which is increasing production cost and trimming export potentials.
Investors are also discouraged by the crisis, leading to reduced business growth and falling employment prospects.
Recently, BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan met Mohammad Saiful Islam, secretary at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, at the Secretariat.
There he placed five recommendations to alleviate the gas crisis.