Myanmar will attach priority to agreements for export of gas to China and India, officials said on Sunday. The Southeast Asian neighbour will consider exporting gas to Bangladesh only after meeting the demands of China and India or if the country finds new gasfields. In such a situation, the government is also considering import of liquid natural gas to face the lingering gas crisis, the officials with the energy and mineral resources division said.
The chief adviser’s special assistant M Tamim who is in charge of energy told the news agency on Sunday: ‘Myanmar has informed us that at the moment they do not have enough gas to export to us.’ ‘If they find further gas deposits, they will consider our request.’ Myanmar’s stance on gas export to Bangladesh was communicated to the foreign affairs secretary, Md Touhid Hossain, when he visited the neighbouring country in mid-February.
The foreign affairs ministry wrote a letter to the energy and mineral resources division on Myanmar’s position. The special assistant said, ‘We will now contact Myanmar authorities directly.’ ‘For now, we are thinking of signing a memorandum of understanding on gas with Myanmar.’ A top official of the energy and mineral resources division, asking not to be named, said the government was still hopeful of importing gas from Myanmar. After being informed of Myanmar’s stance, the government is also thinking of importing LNG to overcome the gas crisis.
According to Petrobangla, the current gas production capacity is 1800 million cubic feet, with actual output of around 1700 million cubic feet per day. Of this, 240 million cubic feet is being supplied to fertiliser industry against total demand for 289 million cubic feet per day. Daily demand from the country’s power plants at present stands at 841 million cubic feet, but only 633 million cubic feet gas is supplied. According to the Power Development Board, electricity generation is being greatly hampered by the gas crisis.
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