Gas Prices To Rise With Subsidies On It
Finance Minister AMA Muhit ( Bangladesh ) in his budget speech has indicated that, the price of natural gas is likely to rise. The price of natural gas might be raised to import LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), which would be used to meet the country’s demand for gas. However, subsidies will be provided to keep the gas price within a tolerable range.
The national budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 was proposed on Thursday. Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed Tk211.18 billion (Tk 21,118 crore) for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in the budget. Of the total Taka 21,118 crore, the finance minister proposed Taka 18,894 crore for the power division and Taka 2,224 crore for the energy and mineral resources division.
AMA Muhit said that, LNG will have to be bought in accordance with the international price which is relatively much higher than the price of natural gas. So, setting up additional tariffs on natural gas will just help to adjust its price with imported LNG. However, subsidies might be given on natural gas to calibrate the price of it, he added.
LNG import and Terminal installation:
The finance minister informed that, plans were taken to boost up the generation of power by providing the power plants with more gas by importing LNG. In order to scale up the power generation capacity, the country will install more LNG terminals and the country is likely to import LNG gas from 2018.
Gas Production:
AMA Muhit said that, exploration for gas would be extended and reinforced to meet the country’s ever growing demand for gas. He remarked that, the country has benefited from the settlement of maritime boundary disputes with India and Myanmar which has broadened the options for exploration of gas in a large area.
He informed that, the state-owned BAPEX (Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration & Production Company Limited) has set a plan to drill 108 wells within the year of 2021 which may avail the country to get more gas in the near future.
Ensuring Efficient usage of Gas:
The finance minister indicated that, it is also important to ensure the efficient usage of gas besides improving the gas production capacity to fight the country’s gas crisis. To secure optimum use of gas, the government has started to install Electric Volume Corrector (EVC) meter in the industries and CNG stations. State-owned gas distribution authorities like Titas and Karnaphuli have planned to install 2 lacs, and 60 thousand household prepaid meters respectively. Boosters and wellheads will be installed in gas fields like Narsingdi, Bakhrabad, Titas to raise the gas production capacity
https://energybangla.com/gas-prices-to-rise-with-subsidies-on-it/