M Azizur Rahman
Aziz is a Bangladeshi journalist who has been writing about energy and the environment over the past two decades. He is an alumni of East West Center and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. He covers India and Bangladesh for Gas Outlook.
Bangladesh’s interim government has already scrapped several Petrobangla LNG deals, sources told Gas Outlook.
Bangladesh’s over-reliance on fossil fuel imports will escalate further if dozens of renewable project PPAs are not signed quickly with the BPDB, sources say.
Major changes made by Bangladesh’s new interim government have put at risk several multi-billion dollar energy deals and projects that were in the pipeline.
Since late May when Cyclone Remal hit, some of Bangladesh’s key LNG facilities have been out of operation.
Indian gas consumption has catapulted to its highest-ever level and is projected to increase by over 7% this year.
India is set to become the first country in the world to export LNG in re-gasified form through cross-country pipelines as GAIL and H-Energy close in on Bangladesh supply deals.
Bangladesh recently generated its record highest volume of electricity and re-gasified maximum LNG to meet sweltering temperature demands during heatwaves.
Petrobangla has begun receiving bids from international oil companies keen to explore for hydrocarbons in Bangladesh’s 24 offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
Last year the Bangladeshi government already raised gas tariffs for power plants by 178.88% cent to Tk 14 per cubic meter.
LNG dependence has exposed the dark side of Bangladesh’s energy security over the past several months, in a country experiencing a severe gas crisis.