It may take at least two more years to completely resolve the country’s ongoing gas crisis, said Prime Minister’s Advisor Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman. He said that the gas crisis is a long-term accumulated problem. It cannot be solved in a day. The government is working on short, medium and long-term plans to resolve the crisis permanently.

He said these things while speaking as the chief guest at a view-sharing meeting organized at the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Auditorium of Mymensingh Zilla Parishad on Tuesday (August 18) afternoon. The view-sharing meeting was organized with the aim of smoothly implementing the divisional-level cultural competition on the occasion of Nazrul Barsha celebration.

In response to journalists’ questions about the opposition’s movement on the gas crisis, Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman said that it is true that people are suffering due to the energy crisis. The Prime Minister herself has also expressed regret over this. However, it is not right to blame the government solely for the current crisis.

He said that in addition to the long-standing problems, the recent accidents have created a huge pressure on gas supply. Especially after the technical problems and fire at the LNG terminal in Maheshkhali, the supply of imported gas to the national grid decreased. This affected industries, power generation, CNG stations and residential customers.

Although gas supply has started increasing after the recent reopening of the terminal, there is a need to increase domestic gas production for long-term energy security, he said.

The advisor said that the government has already taken various steps to deal with the crisis.

Initiatives have been taken to connect Bhola gas to the national gas grid. At the same time, efforts are being made to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the international market. Activities to explore and extract new gas wells on the country’s land have also started.

Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman also said that according to various survey data, the country has potential reserves of 40 to 50 trillion cubic feet of gas on the land. However, the current annual gas demand in the country is about 1.3 to 1.4 trillion cubic feet. If potential domestic gas resources can be explored and extracted, it will be possible to reduce import dependence and further strengthen energy security.

He said that planning is being done in the energy sector not only to deal with the immediate crisis, but also to take into account future needs. The situation will be improved step by step by exploring new gas fields, increasing production in existing fields, importing LNG and increasing the capacity of the national gas grid. However, these initiatives require time to implement. Therefore, it may take at least two more years to completely resolve the gas crisis.

In addition to disrupting production in industrial plants, the recent gas crisis also put pressure on power generation. Due to the decrease in LNG supply towards the end of July, the total gas supply to the national grid decreased significantly. This has led to information that gas-based power generation has also been disrupted.

The meeting was chaired by Mymensingh Divisional Commissioner SM Humayun Kabir. Md. spoke as a special guest. Abu Wahab Akand and Syed Emran Saleh Prince, Administrator of Mymensingh District Council.

The event was attended by the Deputy Commissioners of the four districts of Mymensingh Division, government officials and cultural figures of various levels.