Bangladesh Gas Crisis Deepens as LNG Terminal Shut Down

A severe gas shortage is gripping Bangladesh, leaving many residents struggling to cook and heat their homes. The crisis deepened on Saturday when the Excelerate Energy terminal at Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar suspended gas supply after a fire broke out.

The terminal, which imports liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been out of operation since Tuesday. As a result, daily gas supply has fallen to below 2.15 billion cubic feet, exacerbating the existing shortage.

Petrobangla estimates that the country's daily gas demand is around 3.8 billion cubic feet, but it has struggled to meet this demand due to declining domestic production and increasing reliance on LNG imports.

The gas sector has been plagued by a persistent gap between demand and supply for over a decade, with experts warning of the need for alternative arrangements to avoid such crises in the future. In the meantime, residents are being forced to rely on alternative stoves or even firewood for cooking, leading to long queues at CNG filling stations.