Dearth of piped natural gas for lax exploration is driving liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand growth by 30-40 per cent annually as industries starve for fuel.
Speakers at a seminar Monday made such observations and recommended ways for the government to address the energy needs to keep the economy rolling, at this global-crisis hour.
They made it clear that LPG can be used as an alternative energy to meet the growing need of energy where natural gas-supply facility faces bottlenecks.
Hydrocarbon Unit, a subordinate body of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), organised the virtual seminar titled 'LPG: An Alternate Energy Solution for Industrial Segment in Bangladesh'.
"LPG operators have been supplying the fuel in increased volumes as the industries are not getting sufficient natural gas supplies from national gas grid," the meet was told.
Many industries can now use LPG as a reliable energy solution to meet their needs in the nagging gas crisis, they added.
"We've been providing LPG to different industries which have been suffering from acute gas crisis," said president of the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB) Azam J Chowdhury.
The LPG price is now flexible and reasonable, he claimed.
He, however, sought some policy support to ensure sustainable growth of LPG sector in the country.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) should re-fix an 'accurate' pricing formula for fixing the domestic LPG prices, Mr Chowdhury said.
The LOAB president said if the country wants to keep the country's economy rolling, it must promote LPG to grow its use in industrial and other sectors too as the natural gas alone cannot meet the growing demand.
Mr Chowdhury also demanded building a dedicated deep-sea port for LPG import to ensure consistent supply of this petroleum fuel at a reduced cost as the current transport cost is so high.
Private operators are not being able to import LPG through large vessels exceeding 5000-tonne capacity in the absence of a dedicated deep-sea port, he said.
A huge quantity of LPG is transported through river routes where navigation is essential.
The LOAB top brass also demanded cut in taxes and stopping industries from collecting gas from CNG stations in a risky way.
Senior secretary at the EMRD Mahbub Hossain and additional secretary Humayun Kabir, head of marketing of Bashundhara LPG Jakaria Jalal, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Omera Petroleum Tanzeem Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion while Director-General of Hydrocarbon Unit Abul Khayer Md. Aminur Rahman moderated the event.
Jakaria Jalal said LPG can be suitable for some specific industries depending on the design and its energy consumption.
There should be a unified pricing formula for all the available primary options, including LPG, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other liquid-petroleum products.
