The Energy Regulatory Commission claimed today that Bangladesh’s natural gas transportation infrastructure loses 10% of its volume, which is more than 33% more than the global average.
“Currently the gas system loss is 10 percent in the country,” Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Jalal Ahmed told BSS.
According to international standards, the maximum acceptable gas loss in distribution lines is 0.20 to 0.30 percent.
“We must reduce the volume loss by any means in the six gas distribution companies . . . we are working to bring it to a tolerable stage,” Ahmed said.
The BERC chief claimed that the occurrence exposed the government to a significant loss of money, although experts and analysts previously ascribed the majority of the loss to theft, tampering, and leaks.
Shahnewaz Parvez, managing director of the state-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Plc, acknowledged that the gas distribution system suffered a loss of 10.6 last month.
According to the head of the regulatory body, the system outage used 1369 million cubic meters of gas over the previous six months.
Gas is supplied by domestic and international exploration firms to six distribution corporations via transmission lines, which then distribute it to end users.
Experts suggested that reducing gas wastage could alleviate the pressure on LNG imports amid the ongoing dollar crisis.
Independent energy expert and former state-run Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) director Saleq Sufi said the distribution companies were mainly responsible for the loss, because they have scopes for doing malpractices.
A Petrobangla official on condition of anonymity said the overall system loss from July to December last year was 13.5 percent, a volume which was five percent higher compared to the correspondent period of the previous year.
The system loss is 2023-24 fiscal was 8.43 percent.
Out of the 2,700 million cubic feet of gas distributed every day, an expert who once worked for a distribution company stated that, on average, about 300 mmcfd of gas is now being stolen or misused.
According to him, Titas and Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company were the main victims of the alleged system loss brought on by the interest of a vested quarter.
According to Petrobangla officials, the nation produces 2858.0 mmcfd of gas, including LNG, per day.
According to Petrobangla, during the last six months, from July to December, the government authorized the import of 1,700 million cubic meters (19 cargoes) of LNG from the spot market.
The six-state-run distribution companies are: Titas Gas, Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Ltd, Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, Paschimanchal (West Zone) Gas Company Ltd, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd and Sundarban Gas Company Ltd.
Experts and consumers have long been saying that gas theft, being continued in the name of system loss was increasing day by day.
Titas Gas, however, launched a campaign to disconnect illegal lines and exposed illegal users to justice.
Titas’s managing director Parvez said they were preparing a roadmap to reduce the system loss by 5 to 7 percent every month.
Experts, however, said a small part of system losses are caused by leakage of pipeline and the tender process is underway to repair pipeline.
But meter tampering was bigger issue for the loss at various places, they said.
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