CNG filling stations in Sylhet are coping with their usual end-of-month gas crisis, leading to the temporary closure of many pumps. At those that remain operational, long queues of vehicles waiting to refuel are common, causing significant headaches for CNG filling station owners, drivers, and passengers alike. The gas shortage typically intensifies at the end of the month, a problem that has persisted for over a decade. Owners of CNG filling stations have reported that due to the lag in gas supply, they are unable to meet demand during the last ten days of each month. Gas supply to remain off for 12 hours in Narsingdi Wednesday Despite repeated written and verbal requests to the Jalalabad Gas authorities for a resolution, the situation has only worsened. In light of these ongoing issues, CNG filling station owners are contemplating organized protests to address their grievances. Since 2007, gas has been supplied to vehicles from CNG filling stations in Sylhet, which currently number 56 in the division. However, no new stations have been approved in the past decade. Meanwhile, the number of vehicles on the road has quadrupled since 2007, yet gas supply remains based on outdated quotas. Filling station owners have stated that Jalalabad Gas authorities have set specific quotas for each station, with fines imposed on those who exceed their allotted supply. Since these quotas often get used up before the end of the month, this is another factor leading to the crisis at the end of each month. On-the-ground reports confirm that many CNG filling stations in Sylhet were closed on Sunday, including the Ambarkhana Jalalabad CNG Filling Station, Independent Filling Station, Shahjalal Filling Station, and Tamekhi Shafaatullah Filling Station. United Group power plants getting gas at concessional rate, but selling electricity at commercial rate to EPZs CNG auto-rickshaw drivers expressed their frustration, noting that the gas crisis at the end of each month causes severe hardship for both drivers and passengers. They have urged the government to resolve the gas supply issue in Sylhet. Zubair Ahmed Chowdhury, the divisional president of the Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers, Distributors, Agents, and Petrol Pump Owners Association, stated that they have repeatedly requested an increase in gas allocations from Jalalabad Gas. However, the authorities have not taken the matter seriously, citing national shortages as an excuse for inaction.

With 7 percent system loss, the new management of the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company PLC has been facing the biggest challenge in its service delivery. “Some 7 percent system loss means the organisation loses Tk 150-180 crore per month in revenue,” said Shahnewaz Parvez, the new managing director of the Titas Gas PLC. “It means, the state-owned gas distribution entity can save Tk 1800-2160 crore a year if such a huge system loss is checked,” he told UNB. Among the six gas distribution companies, Titas Gas has been the oldest and largest one both in terms of its operational area and volume of natural gas sales. As per the official statistics, the Titas Gas, invented in 1964, alone holds 55 percent of the gas market share while the other five companies have 45 percent. UCB signs MOU with Titas Gas to provide banking solutions Titas Gas supplies gas to over 2.878 million consumers, including some 2.853 million household consumers, 12,078 commercial consumers, 5,429 industrial consumers, 1,755 captive power plants, and 396 CNG stations. Its vast operational area covers Dhaka, Manikganj, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi and Mymensingh. It annually sells about 14,459.41 MMCM (million cubic meters) of gas (2021-23 fiscal year), to earn a revenue of TK 26,387.12 crore.           After the fall of the Awami League regime, the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry also brought changes in Titas management as it was one of the ‘most corrupt’ organisations where the previous managing director Harunor Rashid Mollah was appointed on a contractual basis. There have been widespread allegations that Mollah was involved in various corruption schemes who gave a huge financial benefit to former state minister Nasrul Hamid to get his contractual appointment. Titas Gas faces assaults from local lawmakers' supporters when removing illegal gas connections: Titas MD One of the major allegations against the old management was that Mollah did not take adequate actions against the illegal connections which ultimately increased the system loss of Titas Gas from 2 percent in 2021-22 to 7 percent in 2024-25 fiscal years. Upon assuming office as Managing Director, Shahnewaz Parvez, who previously served as the Managing Director of GTCL, another Petrobangla company, took action against illegal gas connections. Within one month, he said, itas Gas had disconnected over 4,000 household connections and more than 90 industrial connections, primarily in Keraniganj, Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Rupganj. Official sources said Keraniganj was the parliamentary constituency of former state minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid where the most illegal connections were found. Titas Gas officials said the mainly politically influential persons, especially the local MPs of the ruling party, were the main promoters of the illegal gas connections. As a result, on many occasions, the Titas Gas officials came under attacks from the ruling party men when they conducted operations against the illegal gas connections at different areas. Shahnewaz said Titas Gas has to lose revenue of over Tk 5 crore a day due to illegal gas connections. “So, it’s now our top priority to disconnect all illegal connections and remove the illegal gas pipelines,” he said, adding, if illegal connections are snapped it will play a good role to improve gas supply to many areas. Petrobangla, Titas dismiss news on new gas connections as “baseless rumor”

Two more people, who were undergoing treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (SHNIBPS) in Dhaka with burn injuries, died on Monday, raising the death toll from an explosion at a Sylhet CNG filling station to four. UP Chairman, JCD leader dead in Sylhet road crash The deceased were identified as Tarek Ahmed, 32, son of Gias Uddin of Sadar upazila and Badal Das, 41, son of Arjun Das of Sunamganj district. Tariqul Islam, resident medical officer of the burn institute, said Tarek received 35 percent burn injuries and he died early this morning and Badal also succumbed to his injuries in the morning. 79-kg baghair sells for Tk 60,000 in Sylhet Nine people were injured in an explosion at Biroti CNG Filling Station that triggered a fire in Sylhet's Mirabazar area on September 5. Belal Ahmed, senior station manager of Sylhet Fire Service, said the explosion occurred in the compressor room as the safety bulb went off with a big bang, triggering fire. Truck-auto rickshaw collision leaves AL leader dead in Sylhet Of the injured, Rumel Siddique of Korbantila and Imon Ahmed, 32 of Tukerbazar succumbed to their injuries at SHNIBPS on September 11 and September 12 respectively.

Gas from Bhola will be added to the national grid next month, said State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Tuesday. “We hope that we can start supplying gas from Bhola in the next month and it can be carried through CNG,” he said while talking to reporters after a meeting with Deputy Commissioners at Osmani Auditorium in the city. Read more: Previously undiscovered gas found in Bhola North-2 field Replying to a question about increase of gas price, Nasrul said “We said there will be a policy to sync the price of gas in coordination with the international market price every month  and it will depend on the price of fuel and we will take steps in this regard.” Asked about re-fixing the gas price, the minister said nothing can be said now. “The irrigation season is starting and the month of Ramadan is also coming. We should work together keeping in mind the current situation of fuel in the global market,” he said. The minister also urged the DCs to be more cautious in using gas and power at the district and division level. He also asked the DCs to regularize the postponed bills of power in the district level government offices and keep vigil so the farmers can get uninterrupted power supply. Nasrul also urged the DCs to ensure uninterrupted power supply on priority basis in hospitals, industries and agriculture sector. He also asked them to consider whether the barren lands can be used to generate solar power and whether solar power can be used in the government buildings. Read more: Retail gas prices hiked for power plants, industries and commercial users with effect from Feb 1 The school buildings of the government can be brought under the solar power system and for that the ministry will provide assistance, he assured. Replying to a question about facing challenges in realising dues of power from the government offices, Nasrul said directives were given to regularize the power bill. Asked about how to tackle the demand of electricity during summer, the minister said steps will be taken in this regard.

A technical committee of Petrobangla recommended formulating separate safety and security guidelines to allow any private company to supply gas from Bhola to local industries as CNG (compressed natural gas). “We’ve submitted our report to the top management of Petrobangla recently”, a member of the committee, preferring anonymity, told UNB. He said the committee also recommended involvement of the Department of Explosive in ensuring compliance of certain security protocols. The committee also wants strong monitoring by the RPGCL to ensure specific procedures in gas transportation for motor vehicles. The state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, or Petrobangla, formed the committee last month after three local CNG refuelling companies expressed their interest to carry natural gas in CNG form from Bhola to Dhaka in trucks and covered vans. Read: Search for gas: Chevron plans drilling in Bibiyana’s flanked area in April Each truck or covered van will have a good number of gas cylinders, each having 90-kg gas containing capacity. These companies—Intraco CNG, Super CNG and Oblivious—submitted separate proposals to the Sundarban Gas Company Limited (SGCL), a Petrobangla subsidiary responsible for distribution of natural gas from Bhola field to the southern and eastern parts of the country. The SGCL forwarded the proposals to Petrobangla for the decision. Receiving the proposals, the Petrobangla formed a 4-member technical committee, headed by director (planning) to examine the proposal and recommend follow-up actions. Read:  Low pressure problem in gas supply to industries to be resolved: Nasrul A senior official from Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) was also kept in the committee as currently this company is responsible for import of gas through liquefied natural gas (LNG) and also for issuing permission for setting up CNG stations.  Another member of the committee said that ensuring safety is a must. Otherwise, it will be impossible to check anarchy and risk in this business as the gas will be carried through highways. The issue of the supply of gas from Bhola came to the focus following the Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury’s recent assurance to a gathering of top business leaders to supply such gas within 2-3 months. Petrobangla officials said that when the country has been experiencing a nagging gas crisis, the Bhola gas field has surplus production capacity which remains unutilised due to supply mechanisms. Read: Can’t import 400 MMCFD gas as per businessmen’s demand: Energy Advisor The gas field’s production capacity is 170 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) while it produces 90 MMCFD. So easily, 80 MMCFD gas could be supplied to the national network if safe transportation is ensured, Petrobangla chairman Nazmul Ahsan recently told reporters.   At present, the country produces 2,700 MMCFD gas against a demand of 3,500 MMCFD and the deficit is about 800 MMCFD. Currently, transportation of natural gas in CNG form by-road is prohibited considering its risk for major explosion as CNG is a form of gas processed by compressing the natural gas at 3000 PSI (pounds per square inch). Energy experts said transportation of natural gas in CNG cylinders is not allowed in normal trucks because of its high-pressure characteristics. Read More: Petrobangla to get Tk 2000 crore from GDF to import LNG About the option of bringing gas from Bhola through CNG form, eminent energy expert Dr M Tamim said it will be too dangerous to carry CNG through normal trucks having cylinders, which is currently being practised by different garment and textile factories. There are some specialised barge-mounted CNG carriers which could be allowed under certain rules and regulations. “This kind of business needs some specific technical and technological process to be set up to ensure its safety as the CNG is of highly compressed gas of 3000 psi”, he told UNB.      Installation of such a process might not be possible within a short period of 3 or 4 months, he added. Read More: Petrobangla starts drilling in Shahbazpur Gas Field Despite prohibition, some textile and garment factories collect natural gas from refuelling stations through small containers, mounted on trucks, to meet their industrial needs against the backdrop of the gas crisis. In this case, a truck carries 30-50 CNG cylinders and each cylinder has 90 kg of compressed gas bottling capacity. This kind of CNG transportation is highly risky. An incident of explosion happened at a CNG re-fuelling stations in Gazipur in which for people were killed on October 13. Explosion occurred when a garment factory was injecting gas into cylinders in illegal from the gas station. Despite this incident, recently, three export-oriented business bodies—Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Ceramic Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BCMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) — requested the Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owners Association to supply natural gas to their member industries through cylinders. Read More: No additional LNG supply from Qatar before 2025: Petrobangla But CNG filling station owners rejected the request, saying that entertaining such requests is not possible as the existing law in Bangladesh does not permit them to supply CNG through cylinders.

At least four people have been killed and five, including an inspector of Highway Police, hurt in Chattogram's Mirsharai, where a collision took place close to one hour before midnight. "Wednesday's accident occurred at 10:45pm at Dakshin Sonapahar of Zorarganj as a covered van crashed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. The identities of the deceased could not immediately be confirmed," Mohammad Khairul Alam, officer-in-charge of Zorarganj Police Station, told UNB. Before that, there was a crash involving a Chattogram-bound bus and a Dhaka-bound lorry. Although there were no casualties, the drivers and passengers of the vehicles got into a heated debate.  A team of Highway Police went to the spot to calm things down. Also, four locals went to the scene on an auto-rickshaw. At this time, a covered van rammed into the vehicle and ran over Highway Police Inspector Monir Hossain, killing four on the spot.  "Locals rushed Monir to the hospital in a critical condition. He was later shifted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital as his condition worsened," Khairul said. Also read: 8 killed in India elevator crash

The average gas price has been raised by 22.78 percent for the retail consumers in the country with effect back from June 1. Acting chairman of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Mohammad Abu Faruque announced the hike through a virtual briefing on Sunday. As per the announcement, the average gas price has been raised to Tk 11.91 per cubic metre from the existing Tk 9.70 per cubic metre (CM). Except the users of CNG (compressed natural gas) all other consumers will have to pay more for the natural gas. The price for small industries has, however. been decreased a little. Also read: No hike in gas price now: BERC As per the new rate, the household consumers having single burner will have to pay Tk Tk 990 (7.03 percent rise) instead of exiting Tk 925 a month while the double burner users will have to pay Tk 1080 (10.77 percent rise) instead of existing Tk 975 for double burner. The highest increase was made in the household consumers as they have to pay Tk 18 per Cubic metre (42.86 percent rise) instead of existing Tk 12.60 per cubic metre (CM). According to the increased price, CNG consumers will have to pay at the existing rate of Tk 43 per CM while captive plant operators will have to pay Tk 16 per CM (15.52 percent rise) instead of Tk 13.85. Commercial consumers like restaurants, hospitals, student hostels, hotels will have to pay Tk 28.64 (15.83 percent rise) instead of Tk 23 per CM. The large industries industry owners will have to pay Tk 11.98 (11.96 percent rise) instead of Tk 10.70 per CM while medium industry Tk 11.78 per CM (10.09 percent rise) and small and cottage industry Tk 10.78 (36.74 percent decrease) and the tea estates at Tk 11.93 per CM (11.50 percent rise). Public and private power plants will have to pay Tk 5.02 per CM instead of Tk 4.45 per CM (12.81 percent rise) while fertiliser factories Tk 16 (59.55 percent rise) from existing Tk 4.45 per CM. Energy sector experts believe that the increase in gas price for power plants means it will have a spillover effect and the power plant operators will soon raise demand for increase in power tariff. The BERC acting chairman said this new price was calculated considering the import of 645 million cubic feet (MMCFD) of LNG for the new fiscal year of 2021-22. He said the gas price was last increased in June 2019. The new price hike came in response to the demands of different gas utility companies. The BERC held a series of public hearings on March 21-24 this year.

CNG pumps across the country will remain closed for a good six hours -- from 5pm to 11pm -- daily during Ramadan. From the beginning of Ramadan, all CNG filling stations in Bangladesh will remain closed for six hours from 5pm to 11pm until Eid-ul-Fitre instead of 6pm to 11pm, state-owned Petrobangla has announced. Petrobangla's latest decision to extend the CNG pump closure timing by an hour during the holy month comes in the wake of the volatility in the global energy market caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sources also told UNB that the ongoing energy crisis in several parts of the world, including Bangladesh, has forced the state-owned hydrocarbon corporation to issue the new instructions to the CNG pumps. Read: From Sunday, CNG pumps to stay closed from 6-10pm daily On September 16 last year, the government directed CNG outlet owners to keep their pumps shut for four hours from 6 pm to 10 pm and then extended the timing by one hour from March 1. Energy industry insiders say the country imports about 20 percent of its gas at high cost as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and re-gasify to supply the fuel to local networks. For the past few months, the price of LNG in the global market witnessed a steep hike -- from $6 per MMBtu to over $30 per MMBtu. “The recent war between Russia and Ukraine has created further volatility in the global market, which ultimately forced the authorities concerned to take such measures to reduce supply at CNG pumps,” said an energy industry insider. Read: Introduce tracking system for LPG, CNG cylinders: Nasrul Hamid  

Two persons were killed and three others injured in a head-on collision between a microbus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Feni on Friday, police said. The deceased were identified as Jamal Hossain, 38, and Hasna Akter, 17. Both the deceased were originally from Alankar union of Cumilla’s Chouddagram upazila. According to police, bride Farzana Akhar Koli was returning home from a beauty parlour with her relatives in the auto-rickshaw on Friday evening when the microbus crashed into the vehicle near the Madhbaria intersection. READ: Youth killed in city road crash The impact of the collision was such that the duo died on the spot. The third injured were rushed to Feni General Hospital by local residents. Farzana was later shifted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital as her condition worsened. Feni Model Police Station officer-in-charge Nizam Uddin said the bodies were sent to the Feni General Hospital morgue for post-mortem. "Both the vehicles have been seized." READ: 2 children killed in Chattogram road crash

An auto-rickshaw driver was hacked to death over a dispute at Mohammadpur village in sadar upazila on Thursday night.  The deceased was identified as Md Dulal, 50. According to locals, Dulal’s son Murad recorded a video of two people -Nazim and Asif -in his mobile phone while they were stealing betel nuts from an orchard Thursday noon. The two thieves hired their friend Mehedi Hasan to threaten Murad of killing if he shows the footage to the orchard owner. READ: Chhatra Dal leader hacked, sued in Barishal Dulal and Mehedi’s father locked into an altercation over the matter. At one stage, Mehedi suddenly  attacked Dulal with a knife, leaving him injured. Locals rushed severely injured Dulal to Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital where doctors announced him dead. READ: Man hacked dead in Narail On Friday  morning, police arrested Mehedi, said Officer-in-Charge of Chandraganj police station AKA Fazlur Haque.