Gas crisis deepens as LNG failure chokes factories and leaves families waiting to cook

When Sharmin Sultana put a pot of rice on the stove in her apartment in Dhaka's Agargaon on Monday, she expected lunch to be ready within an hour. Instead, she spent the afternoon waiting.

"There was no gas at all in the morning," she told Daily Waadaa. "When the supply came back, the pressure was so low that the rice still wouldn't cook."

Her experience has become increasingly common across Bangladesh after a technical failure at one of the country's two floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals sharply reduced gas supplies, disrupting households, industries and power generation.

The disruption comes on top of years of weak gas pressure in many parts of the country, but industry leaders and energy experts say the loss of nearly half the country's LNG regasification capacity has turned a chronic problem into a nationwide crisis.

There is little immediate relief in sight.

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku said Monday that the damaged Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) would require another 10 to 15 days to return to service after a fire triggered the shutdown. 

Bangladesh also has two LNG cargoes waiting offshore that cannot be unloaded because of the disruption, worsening shortages across the country.

"As a result, there is a severe gas shortage across the country. Households are experiencing low gas pressure, while industries and power plants are also suffering," Tuku said at an energy policy roundtable in Dhaka.

The outage has exposed how heavily Bangladesh depends on imported LNG to meet domestic demand.

According to Petrobangla, Bangladesh operates two FSRUs. Summit LNG Terminal continues supplying between 500 million and 570 million cubic feet of gas a day, but the Excelerate Energy terminal, capable of supplying around 600 million cubic feet daily, remains completely offline.

Supply side crisis 

"The loss of that supply is what has created the current gas crisis," said Tarikul Islam Khan, deputy general manager for public relations at Petrobangla.

He said the problem lies in the terminal's central control panel, which operates both boilers. Although one boiler remains functional, international safety regulations require the entire terminal to remain shut until repairs are completed. 

Local engineers were initially unable to fix the fault, and foreign specialists are now assisting, but additional technical complications have delayed restoration.

Industry leaders say they have been told the disruption could last until early August.

"The government has indicated that the problem with the floating LNG terminal is unlikely to be resolved before the first week of August, possibly around August 7 or 8," said Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

For Bangladesh's export industry, the timing is particularly damaging.

The garment sector exports between $130 million and $140 million worth of products every day. Khan said production has already fallen by 30% to 40% as factories struggle to secure enough gas.

The disruption extends far beyond garment assembly lines. Dyeing, knitting, washing and finishing units across the textile supply chain have slowed production, forcing manufacturers to reschedule shifts, operate below capacity and absorb higher costs while trying to meet delivery deadlines.

"The impact has been huge since one of the FSRUs went offline. Almost all factories are facing gas shortages," Navidul Huq, managing director of Mohammadi Group, told Waadaa.

"It's another blow to an industry already under pressure from weak export orders. Buyers are now extremely sensitive about delivery schedules and product quality."

If the shortage continues for another week or two, he said, manufacturers face shipment delays, costly air freight, price discounts and, most critically, the loss of buyer confidence.

Disruptions and vulnerabilities 

The crisis is also reshaping daily life in Dhaka.

Thousands of households have effectively been driven out of their kitchens as piped gas remains unavailable or too weak for cooking for much of the day. Families are increasingly relying on neighbourhood restaurants while continuing to pay monthly gas bills.

Some have switched to induction cookers, LPG cylinders or traditional clay stoves. But for many apartment residents, those alternatives are either impractical or unaffordable.

The disruption has been particularly difficult for families with infants and young children, who say preparing fresh meals has become a daily challenge.

Restaurants across Dhanmondi, Shukrabad, Mirpur, Mohammadpur and Uttara report a noticeable increase in customers since the crisis intensified.

"Earlier we did not have this many customers. Now the crowds have grown significantly because many people have no gas at home," said Tanvir Siddiqui, who works at a restaurant in Uttara.

For energy economists, however, the immediate disruption reflects a deeper policy failure.

Professor M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh and dean of the Department of Information and Communication Engineering at Daffodil International University, said successive governments failed to develop domestic gas resources while becoming increasingly dependent on expensive LNG imports.

"We have been saying from the beginning that LNG is not the answer," he told Waadaa, "Our continued dependence on imports is the reason behind these recurring difficulties. We have not been able to collect and utilise gas from our own domestic sources."

He said gas reserves in Bhola remain underutilised and ageing gas fields have not been rehabilitated to increase production.

"Instead of developing domestic resources, we chose to rely on imports to meet our gas demand," he said. "Imported LNG is so expensive that the government cannot afford to buy enough, and consumers cannot bear the cost either."

Minister Tuku acknowledged the broader vulnerability.

He said Bangladesh imported fuel worth about $3.65 billion during the past six months, placing further pressure on foreign exchange reserves while many gas-fired power plants remain idle because of fuel shortages. 

The government also inherited around 56,000 crore taka in unpaid liabilities to private power producers from the previous administration, adding to the sector's financial strain.

To reduce dependence on imported fuels, the government has adopted a new renewable energy policy targeting 10,000 megawatts of additional renewable capacity over the next five years through utility-scale and rooftop solar projects.

For now, however, Bangladesh remains dependent on restoring a single LNG terminal before households can cook normally again and factories can return to full production.

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