Challenges of increasing gas supply in Bangladesh

 

Challenges of increasing gas supply in Bangladesh

The World Bank is willing to support a Government initiative to increase gas supply to meet the growing demand in the country. A World Bank mission recently agreed to a mid-term investment plan of the Government for low-cost high-impact measures that will eventually help to increase gas supply.

Bangladesh’s gas resources are depleting fast and immediate actions are needed to address the impending gas shortage in 2011.

The proposed low-cost high-impact measures comprise: a) upstream field assessment to increase supply, b) pipe cleaning and targeted pigging of transmission and distribution lines to improve capacity, c) improvement in distribution network in Dhaka and Chittagong and d) installation of metering system to mitigate both technical and non-technical losses.

The Mission noted the improvement of the commercial performance of Titas Gas, as well as Petrobangla’s adoption of the Gas Strategy and Master Plan.

To ensure the viability of the gas companies, an adequate financing of the required investment, and attraction of the private sector in exploration and production, it will be useful for the Government to draw on global expertise and prepare a simple gas pricing framework which will ease policy implementation. A price adjustment of gas in this context would help aligning the gas sector with other competing substitutes, the prices of whose have been adjusted recently.

June 2007

Contacts:
S.M. Rezwan Ul Alam, (8802) 815-9015, Ext 4242
e-mail: salam3@worldbank.org

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit : www.worldbank.org.bd & www.worldbank.org