A sudden drop in LNG supply left many households across Dhaka without pipeline gas on Friday, forcing residents to depend on cylinders, electric stoves and restaurant meals even during the weekly holiday.
“Since morning, there has been no gas at all,” said Fahima Banu, a resident of Monipuripara.
She said such shortages had become familiar and she had kept a cylinder and an electric stove ready at home to avoid cooking disruptions.
But for many others, the outage came as a surprise.
Lawyer Nahida Khanam of Gausnagar in New Eskaton said she had never faced a complete gas shutdown since moving there in 2022.
“I tried to cook for my daughter at noon, but the stove did not work at all. Eventually, I had to take her to a restaurant for food,” she said.
The disruption followed a sharp fall in LNG supply after a technical problem at a floating LNG terminal offshore. Although authorities announced that supply would resume on Friday, many residential consumers continued to face shortages.
Merul Badda resident Nuzhat Raisa said her family had to survive on food cooked the previous day.
“When that finished, we had to buy food from outside,” she said.
Mirpur-10 resident Fatema Begum said she could not prepare breakfast for her family as there was no gas in the stove. She was waiting for even a minimum flow of gas to cook lunch.
Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) said on Thursday evening that LNG transfer from imported cargo to the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at Maheshkhali was disrupted due to adverse weather conditions.
The disruption reduced LNG-based gas supply to 686 million cubic feet per day, down from nearly 1,000 million cubic feet the previous day.
Petrobangla said on Friday morning that LNG transfer from the cargo vessel to the Maheshkhali floating terminal had resumed, improving the overall supply situation.
However, the previous day’s shortfall continued to affect residential consumers in parts of Dhaka, many of whom turned to alternative cooking arrangements.
Nasrin Sultana, a resident of Merul Badda, said there had been no pipeline gas since morning.
“Since it is Friday, the problem is manageable. On a working day, preparing meals for family members from early morning would have been much more difficult,” she said.
