The government should immediately start investing in gas exploration and development, as the sector is on the verge of facing an acute crisis.

The sector needs an investment of Tk 2,000 crore to Tk 3,000 crore in the next couple of years to meet the projected minimum gas demand, speakers said yesterday at a roundtable on 'Oil and Security' organised by Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA).

Professor Rehman Sobhan emphasised value addition to gas and said that the best way to add value was to give input to the agriculture sector by manufacturing fertilisers and generating electricity at a much lower cost. "It will have impact on the rural economy," he said.

At the roundtable, moderated by Waliur Rahman of BILIA, the speakers maintained that the international situation arising out of the Iraq war might affect the oil price. But it would not severely hit energy security of Bangladesh that depends mainly on local gas as the source of energy.

However, for every dollar of oil price hike, Bangladesh would have to increase export by 5 per cent to match the deficit, warned Muzammel Huq who presented the keynote paper.

Huq, who is the general manager of the Grameen Bank and former member of International Institute of Strategic Studies, London noted that a mere seven per cent oil supply drop could push oil prices up by 30 per cent.

Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) General Manager

FROM PAGE 12

Salek Sufi said presently the country is consuming 1,220 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas against a similar production level. And the demand is rising sharply as there are new gas-based power lpilants and industries in the pipe-ne, which would need committed gas supplies for at least the next 20 years.

International oil companies were reluctant to invest further as they wanted a committed gas market, while the government had not invested here on the ground that there were fund shortages, Sufi added.

Former secretary Azim Uddin Ahmed, Badrul Imam, professor of geology, Prof Nurul Islam, USAID Energy Adviser Bruce McMullen, businessman Abdul Matlub Ahmed, Jatiya Party leader GM Kader and others also addressed the roundtable.