Severe Gas Shortage Grips Chittagong as Adverse Weather Disrupts LNG Supply

CHITTAGONG – Residents and motorists across Chittagong are grappling with a severe gas crisis, as supply shortages have crippled household cooking and halted transport services since Wednesday morning.

The Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL) reported that gas supply to the port city plummeted on Tuesday night. Officials estimate that the daily supply may reach a maximum of 180 to 190 million cubic feet, falling significantly short of the city’s daily requirement of approximately 350 million cubic feet.

The disruption has caused widespread hardship. Sharmin Akhter, a resident of the Halishahar area, reported being unable to cook since the early morning hours, noting that the sudden suspension of service has left many families in a precarious position.

Simultaneously, long queues have resurfaced at CNG filling stations across the city. Motorists reported waiting for hours to refuel, with many stations either suspending operations or experiencing extremely low pressure. Mohammad Noman, a CNG-run autorickshaw driver, stated he spent several hours in line at the Fossil Filling Station in Sholashahar without success, after failing to secure gas at multiple other stations in the city, including those in Tigerpass.

Petrobangla Director (Operations) Md. Shoeb attributed the latest shortage to adverse weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal, which have prevented LNG-carrying vessels from docking at the Maheshkhali floating terminals. According to officials, the wind speed at the terminal site has reached approximately 38 knots, well above the 20-knot safety threshold required for safe vessel berthing.

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“We are currently receiving slightly over 400 million cubic feet of gas into the national grid from the Maheshkhali terminals,” Shoeb explained. “Once the LNG carrier is able to dock, the supply is expected to rise to approximately 750 million cubic feet.”

While the terminals previously faced technical malfunctions involving a boiler—which had caused similar supply disruptions in late July—officials confirmed that the current crisis is strictly weather-dependent. The previous boiler-related issues have been partially resolved, and restoration of normal service is now contingent on the weather conditions improving to allow the vessel to discharge its cargo.

Until the wind speed subsides, KGDCL officials warned that the city will continue to operate with a deficit of nearly 50 percent of its daily gas demand. Normalcy in the residential and transport sectors remains uncertain as authorities wait for a window of favorable weather to stabilize the national grid supply.