ASIFUR RAHMAN

After a private operator fell far short of delivering the approved volume of gas from Bhola island to the mainland in compressed form, the government has now moved to pursue a liquefied gas option -- despite warnings that it may also prove commercially unviable due to high costs.

A more viable alternative could be to set up power plants in Bhola and transmit electricity to the mainland, or develop export-oriented industries on the island to directly utilise the gas reserves, said sector stakeholders in a public hearing yesterday.

They expressed frustration as the plans to instal a gas pipeline from Bhola to Barishal to feed underutilised power plants in Khulna or to connect Bhola’s gas to the Padma Bridge pipeline for national distribution -- remain stalled.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) held the public hearing to set Bhola’s gas prices for industrial and captive power usage in LNG format.

Following instructions from the energy division and applications from Petrobangla with two other distributor companies -- Titas Gas and Sundarban Gas -- the technical evaluation committee of BERC proposed a gas price of Tk 47.50 per cubic metre at the consumer level.

The proposed price matches the rate at which the private company Intraco supplies gas to industries in small quantities as compressed natural gas (CNG).

During the hearing, most stakeholders opposed the move, arguing that such high rates would make usage unfeasible, as they currently receive gas at Tk 30 per cubic metre from the pipeline.

Recently, the BERC fixed Tk 40 per cubic metre as the gas price for new industries.

According to the proposals, six gas wells from Shahbazpur Gas Field are currently in operation, with a production capacity of around 120 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).

Bhola island’s demand stands at 90 mmcfd. The remaining 30 mmcfd is planned to be supplied to Bhola’s

SEE PAGE 5 COL 5