Natural gas-supply shortage continued in and around the capital for the second day with slightly improved scenario on Monday along with low gas pressure and frequent electricity outages.
Industrial output was affected due to lower-than-expected gas pressure and household consumers suffered to cook food especially 'iftar' and 'sehri' following the abrupt fall in gas supply from Bangladesh's largest producing Bibiyana gas-field since early hours of Sunday.
Chevron Bangladesh, the field operator, decided to investigate the cause of the unplanned shutdown, it said in a statement on Monday.
"Chevron Bangladesh is making progress in returning the Bibiyana gas-field to full capacity - with production at one of the process trains affected at the plant and one well in the field resuming on the day," it continued.
The plant is running at a reduced rate after suspension of operations at two of its trains and six production wells in the field on April 3 following the discovery of some production anomalies.
"Safety of workers and nearby communities as well as protection of environment are top priorities for the teams working to bring the second train and all remaining wells back online," Chevron stated.
The state-run Petrobangla in a statement on Monday expressed deep sorrow over the incident and hoped to resume normal gas supply soon.
Dhaka's city-dwellers thronged different restaurants, hotels and cafes to purchase iftar and dinner items, as they could not prepare food at home.
Gas-guzzling power plants squeezed their electricity generation significantly, as the plants got around 923 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas against their demand of 2,252 mmcfd on Monday, according to the Petrobangla.
Bibiayana supplied around 886 mmcfd of gas on Sunday against its overall capacity to supply 1,200 mmcfd.
The country's overall natural gas supply dropped to around 2,524 mmcfd on Sunday with around 501 mmcfd of re-gasified imported LNG (liquefied natural gas) against the overall demand of over 4,000 mmcfd.
Azizjst@yahoo.com