TDS Desk:

One billion dollars’ worth of gas is being stolen annually in the name of system loss, prominent energy expert Ijaz Hossain claimed Wednesday (4 September).

Bangladesh can save up to $500 million every year if the system loss, which is currently 9.82%, can be halved and imports will reduce, he said at a seminar in the Conference Center of the International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB).

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, in a report on system loss reduction of Titas Gas in 2014, defined system loss as the amount of gas that is unaccounted for.

“That is, it is the difference between total amounts of gas supplied – the total amount of  gas accounted for,” states the report.

System loss may be due to several factors, including inaccuracy of the metering system and equipment, meter tampering, connection without metering, illegal connections, and leakages in the pipeline of the distribution system.

While presenting the keynote paper at the event, jointly organised by IBFB, and Energy and Power, Ijaz said, “I Support LNG import, but it should be limited. There is no alternative to increasing domestic gas production and exploration activities.”

“If we want to provide uninterrupted power supply then the import cost in this sector will stand at $24 billion, which is very difficult for our economy. Production is declining as our domestic gas fields are depleting,” noted the energy expert.

“If we want to maintain the current production capacity of 2,000 million cubic feet then at least 10 exploratory wells should be drilled annually. We used to produce 2,800 million at one time, which has decreased due to lack of exploration activities. There is no such record of [such] production decrease in any other country,” said Ijaz, who was also a professor Buet.

Also speaking on the occasion, energy expert M Tamim said talks have surfaced about capacity provision.

“It needs to be seen how much is the unused capacity provision. If there has been any manipulation in this regard, action should be taken,” he said.

Criticising the ousted Awami League-led government, he said, “The [AL] government interfered all the time. Any decision of Petrobangla was changed due to political reasons by the ministry. Petrobangla made proposals, but those were changed due to political reasons. There is no gas, the power plant is sitting idle. Deals have been made to supply pressurised gas.”