Bangladesh Energy Crisis Deepens Amidst LNG Terminal Disruptions
The energy crisis in Bangladesh has deepened due to operational failures at the Summit LNG terminal. The facility, which plays a critical role in the country's energy infrastructure, abruptly ceased gas deliveries after depleting its reserves on Wednesday.
This disruption compounds a four-week energy shortfall that has tested the resilience of Bangladesh's economy. According to Petrobangla officials, the terminal was forced to throttle its output by approximately 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) due to severe weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal preventing a waiting LNG tanker from berthing alongside the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU).
The inability to offload the cargo has slashed the nation's total LNG supply to below 300 mmcfd, a stark contrast to the standard 1,000 mmcfd typically processed by the country's two primary FSRUs. This bottleneck has dragged total daily gas availability down to roughly 1,930 mmcfd, falling dangerously short of the national demand benchmark of 3,800 mmcfd.
The crisis is evident across multiple sectors: industrial stagnation in textile and dyeing mills; transportation paralysis due to halted CNG filling stations; and domestic disruptions from near-zero gas pressure. The gas shortfall has severely choked power generation capabilities, forcing load shedding protocols nationwide.