City stung by gas crisis for 2nd day

For the second day in a row, many neighbourhoods in the capital suffered an acute gas crisis yesterday, as the authorities struggled to fix the technical problems that occurred at Bibiyana Gas Field in Sylhet on Sunday.

Residents of Mirpur, Pallabi, Lalmatia, Shahjahanpur, Mohammadpur, Tejturi Bazar, Razabazar and Dhanmondi complained of severe gas shortage, and said they had to buy food and iftar items from restaurants.

According to Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla), consumers in different city areas have been experiencing shortages or low pressure in gas supply from Sunday following technical glitches at the gas field.

Officials at Chevron Bangladesh, the operator of Bibiyana Gas Field, said, two of the five gas-processing trains and six of the 26 wells at the gas field faced technical problems around 1:15am on Sunday, reducing the field's gas production to around 800 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from 1,250 mmcfd.

One of the two trains was fixed on Sunday night while the other was likely to be brought back to operation early today, said Sheikh Jahidur Rahman, communications manager (corporate affairs) at Chevron Bangladesh.

A gas-processing train filters gas extracted from wells and also controls the pressure of gas.

"We hope to fix the technical glitches at three of the six wells tonight or early today. It will take some time to complete the repair work at the other three wells," he told this newspaper last night.  

Ali Mohammad Al-Mamun, director (operation and mines) of Petrobangla, said they sent a high-powered team to the gas field in Sylhet on Sunday to assess the situation.

"Engineers are working to fix the problem. We hope the situation will return to normal very soon."

He said Petrobangla usually gets 1,250 mmcfd gas from Chevron. But it was receiving around 800 mmcfd since the gas field was hit by technical problems.

Petrobangla data shows that three state-owned firms -- Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd, Sylhet Gas Fields Ltd and Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company -- and two international oil companies -- Chevron and Tullow Oil plc -- add 2,380 to 2,395 mmcfd gas to the national grid. But on Sunday, the supply decreased to 2,023 mmcfd.

"We used to provide 1,100 to 1,150 mmcfd gas to power plants. But it was brought down to 1,000 mmcfd since Bibiyana Gas Field ran into problems on Sunday," he said.

In a statement, Petrobangla apologised to its subscribers for their sufferings due to the gas crisis and hoped the situation would get back to normal soon.

Haronur Rashid Mullah, managing director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company that distributes gas to 28.74 lakh households, said the capital and its adjoining areas bore the brunt of the shortage of around 400 mmcfd gas.

Residents of Gazipur, Savar, Narayanganj, Narsingdi and Mymensingh also suffered due to the shortage.

Suraiya Parveen, a resident of Mirpur-12 in the capital, said she had to wait until 12:30am yesterday to cook sehri items as the gas supply in her area became normal after midnight.

"I couldn't get enough sleep as I had to leave home for college early in the morning to take classes. When I returned home around 3:00pm today, I found that there was no gas…," said Parveen, a teacher at a private college in the city's Dhanmondi.

Lutfunnahar Begum, who lives in Shahjahanpur, said, "Today, the pressure of gas is so low that it's not possible to cook iftar items… we have no other option but to buy iftar items from restaurants."

Some residents chose electric burners to cook food.

One of them, Babul Hossain, a resident of Pallabi in the city, said they would use the electric burner he purchased a few years back to cook food and iftar items.