Gas supply to Chattagram and elsewhere has started to improve after a floating LNG terminal in Moheshkhali resumed production after its 45-day scheduled maintenance programme.
“Excelerate Energy’s FSRU started production after scheduled maintenance today. Now it has been supplying 230 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) and hopefully the supply will reach 500 mmcfd soon,” said a top official of the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL).
The RPGCL, a subsidiary of state-owned Petrobangla, has been responsible to import LNG from abroad and receive re-gasification service from the existing two LNG terminals in Moheshkhali, one set up by Summit Group and another by US-based Excelerate Energy.
Each LNG terminal has a capacity to supply 500 mmcfd gas to the national gas network from which a major portion is supplied to Chattagram .
Read: Energy Division regrets inconvenience from gas crisis in Chattagram, elsewhere
The Excelerate Energy’s FSRU went on a 45-day maintenance programme suspending supply of gas to the national gas grid while the Summit’s FSRU experienced a technical fault halting gas supply to the national gas network, leading to a severe gas crisis in Chattagram and elsewhere.
Many areas in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur experienced extreme gas crises or low pressure problems.
The RPGCL official, however, informed that Summit’s FSRU also resumed production to a very low scale and it is providing a supply of 130 mmcfd against its capacity of 500 mmcfd.
He noted that the gas shortage problem is unlikely to be fully resolved as the Summit’s FSRU also has a schedule to start maintenance programme within 3-4 days.
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“We think the situation will improve to some extent, but not fully”, he told UNB.
The Energy Division on Friday expressed regrets for the inconvenience caused to consumers over the gas crisis in Chattogram and elsewhere in the country due to the suspension of the LNG supply from FSRU in Moheshkhali following a technical fault there.
In a press release, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division said that due to a technical fault at a Moheshkhali LNG FSRU, gas supply to Chattogram and other areas of the country remained suspended since early morning on Friday.
Read more: Acute gas crisis hits Chattogram city residents hard