More time needed to fully overcome gas-electricity crisis: Commerce Minister

Industries, Commerce, Jute and Textiles Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has said that it may take about two years to build necessary infrastructure to permanently overcome the country's ongoing gas and electricity crisis.

He made this remark on Saturday afternoon after concluding a workshop on the agricultural development project in the Sylhet region using modern technology, held at a Sylhet hotel hall room. 

The Minister said the challenges of the energy crisis are clear. The time required to overcome this situation by building the necessary infrastructure must be given. Infrastructure initiatives such as increasing the capacity of energy terminals, drilling new wells, laying pipelines, and installing new Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) may take about two years to implement. Once these initiatives are realized, the country's energy self-sufficiency will increase.

Khandakar Abdul Muktadir said the government has taken new initiatives beyond conventional measures to tackle the gas crisis. Through the relevant agency of the Malaysian government, initiatives have been taken to bring LNG in large ships, transfer it to smaller vessels, and then convert it into gas through floating regasification units for supply to various areas.

However, noting some limitations in this regard, he said that as the relevant ships of Petronas are currently engaged in various tasks, additional vessels are not available at this moment. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Energy and all concerned are working to resolve the issue.

Explaining the reasons for the recent intensification of the gas crisis, the Minister said that one of the country's two floating LNG regasification units could not be refilled with gas. The situation worsened further over the last five to ten days because a boiler in the other unit malfunctioned.

However, he said refilling of gas has already begun in one unit, which has improved the situation, and further improvement is expected. One boiler of the other unit has also been repaired, and repair work on another boiler is ongoing. Once that is also fixed, gas will be available at full capacity from both units. He expressed hope that it will then be possible to return to the situation of about a month ago, and the ongoing crisis in industries and power supply will be significantly reduced.

Acknowledging the gas and power shortages in industries and the disruption to normal daily life in households, Abdul Muktadir said, "The industries are suffering, and normal daily life in households is being disrupted—every single point is correct. There is no mistake here."

However, he also said that the current situation is an inherited one. At the same time, noting that the demand for gas and electricity fluctuates seasonally, the Minister said that electricity demand is relatively higher during summer, while the same demand decreases significantly in winter.

He further said that current daily fuel demand is almost double the supply. At this time of year, demand is higher than in other seasons, making the crisis more visible.

Pointing out that investment is needed for economic progress, the Commerce Minister said the government is making efforts to normalize the energy situation to increase investment. For this, attempts are being made to import LNG from Malaysia.

Regarding agriculture, he said that for success in the agricultural sector, the goal for the future will be to ensure the maximum economic return from farming. The government will take necessary initiatives to harness the vast potential of the country's agriculture.