To help with the gas shortage in enterprises, Bhola started supplying gas in cylinders last December. It made it possible to make use of the gas that was taken out of the island district’s gas field.
However, despite persistent demands from large companies, the gas supply is still much insufficient. Presently, the industries are receiving less than 3.5% of the intended amount.
Many businesses have shown interest in obtaining the contract to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) in the form of cylinders of gas from the gas field.
After winning the contract, Intraco was tasked with gradually increasing the daily gas supply to 25 million cubic feet. It was intended to deliver 5 million cubic feet of CNG gas and supply 145,710 cubic meters of gas per day during the first phase.Sources claim that the company is currently only producing 4,000–5,000 cubic meters of gas per day.Technical and logistical difficulties, such as the laborious process of putting Reduction Control Units (RCUs) in plants to control gas pressure, have been blamed for the failure.
The Sundarbans Gas Company buys the gas and distributes it to consumers, while Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) extracts gas from the Bhola gas field.An arrangement was inked by Intracto last year to buy gas from the Sundarbans Gas Company and supply it to other enterprises.The Sundarbans Gas Company’s general manager, Touhidur Rahman, stated that the company is still able to provide the necessary quantity of gas.
A vehicle that transports gas cylinders to Dhaka and back to Bhola often takes four to five days, according to a reliable source at the gas company. At present, Intraco possesses five trucks, each capable of transporting 4000-5000 cubic meters of gas.However, the company is now using just one truck to deliver gas to Dhaka, thereby cutting down on the amount of gas coming from the Bhola gas field.
Attributing the fault to technical problems, Intraco stated that they are installing RCUs at factories because gas must be supplied to industries at a lower gas pressure than what is kept in cylinders at high pressure. An RCU installation can take up to 2.5 months on average.The company’s managing director, Riyad Ali, announced that the first 5 million cubic feet of gas have been allocated. Installing RCUs is currently taking longer than expected due to factory demand.His expectation was that the supply will increase starting in April and run to capacity in May. The new requirements might not be fulfilled until December, though.
