Bangladesh Seeks Malaysia's Help to Ease Gas Crisis

The government of Bangladesh has reached out to Malaysia for help in addressing its ongoing gas supply crisis. According to State Minister Aninda Islam Amit, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman wrote to and spoke with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim earlier today (28 July) about the issue.

Amit stated that Anwar assured Bangladesh that his country would explore all possible avenues to support it and provide feedback after consulting relevant authorities.

The crisis began when a technical failure at the Excelerate Energy-operated floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) off Moheshkhali knocked out around 500-600 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of regasification capacity, triggering severe gas shortages for households, industries, power plants, and CNG stations.

The government expects partial restoration of the damaged LNG terminal early next week, with a goal to fully restore it by the end of next week if repair work proceeds as planned. In addition to seeking Malaysia's assistance, Bangladesh is exploring alternative LNG supply arrangements and accelerating efforts to develop a land-based LNG terminal with international support.

Amit apologised again to consumers for the hardship caused by the crisis, saying the government fully understood the suffering of households, businesses, and commuters.