Aug 2, 2024
| Shanchita Shitu | The Dhaka Tribune
Damage to Summit’s LNG terminal has caused a gas crisis in Dhaka and various parts of the country. But supply from its liquefied natural gas terminal is expected to resume by August 11, potentially alleviating the recent gas shortage. The terminal was taken to Singapore for repairs after it was damaged by Cyclone Remal, leading to gas shortages affecting power generation, industries, commerce and even households for several months.
In the 24 hours to 8am on Thursday, Petrobangla reported supplying 2,634 million cubic feet of gas to the grid, including 605 million cubic feet from one LNG terminal. The remainder came from domestic gas fields. In addition to Summit, the American company Excelerate Energy operates a floating terminal that is currently providing LNG. Summit’s LNG terminal returned to the Bangladesh coast on July 13. Petrobangla had indicated that connecting the terminal to the grid pipeline would take 15 days, suggesting a resumption date of July 28. However, on Wednesday, Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, said it would take an additional 10 days to resume gas supply from Summit’s LNG terminal. Following his statement, a senior Summit official told this correspondent the company was working towards resuming supply by August 11, though they cautioned that rough seas might cause delays.
When contacted, Faisal Khan, managing director of Summit Corporation, explained that there were complexities in the underwater pipeline work, exacerbated by recent weather conditions. “Specialists with international licences are handling the mooring system. We hope to complete the work in 10 days, but adverse weather at 30 metres depth might cause delays.” Previously, on July 4, the state minister had announced that gas supply would return to normal by mid-July. The current daily gas demand in the country is 4,000 million cubic feet. With both terminals operational, 3,100 to 3,200 million cubic feet are supplied. Currently, only 2,600 million cubic feet are being supplied, resulting in a deficit of at least 500 million cubic feet. This shortfall has impacted power generation, industrial operations and household supply.