Govt plans to drill 150 gas wells, build 3-4 new LNG terminals: Finance Minister

The government plans to drill 150 gas wells and build three to four new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to increase gas supplies, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said on Monday.

The government is also offering tax exemptions and incentives to promote solar power generation, pursuing reforms in the banking and revenue sectors, and planning a dedicated investment fund to attract foreign capital to Bangladesh’s capital market, he said.

Khosru was speaking at a discussion titled “Sustainable Power and Energy: Driving Investment in Bangladesh”, organised by the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at a city hotel.

He said the government was encouraging households and industrial establishments to install rooftop solar panels through tax incentives and other benefits. It has also made arrangements to purchase surplus electricity generated by these panels at higher-than-usual rates to help meet its solar power generation target.

The government is also stepping up renewable energy development and gas exploration both onshore and offshore, he said.

To increase domestic gas production, initiatives have been taken to strengthen the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX). Alongside contract-based exploration, the government has decided to drill 150 gas wells through the state-owned company and approved the procurement of necessary equipment, Khosru said.

“To tackle the gas shortage, there are plans to set up three to four new floating storage regasification units,” he said, adding that private investors from South Korea, China and the United States were becoming involved in developing the facilities.

He said a new site in deep waters near Khulna had been identified in addition to Matarbari. The government plans to build a modern terminal there, with facilities to unload oil and LNG directly from large vessels, with the aim of developing an energy hub.

The minister said reforms were also under way in revenue administration, banking and the capital market to stabilise the economy and reduce the cost of doing business.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is being split into two separate divisions—one responsible for policy formulation and the other for implementation—to reduce conflicts of interest in policymaking and help prevent corruption, he said.

The government is also working to ease unnecessary restrictions and simplify business procedures to make it easier for existing investors to operate and encourage new investment.

Khosru said the energy sector had become a critical part of the economy amid the global economic crisis and instability in the Middle East. The government was working to strengthen energy security and attract domestic and foreign investment while addressing challenges including revenue shortfalls, problems in the banking sector and money laundering.

To attract foreign investment into Bangladesh’s capital market, the government is planning a dedicated equity-based investment fund for the country in Hong Kong’s stock market, he said.

Khosru added that the government had held productive discussions with major investors on Wall Street in the United States and expected significant international investment to flow into Bangladesh’s capital market and bond sector.

He expressed hope that the economy and energy sector would stabilise within a reasonable period, allowing economic activity to return to normal and growth to accelerate gradually.