Next Two Years To Be crucial For Energy Sector: Nasrul

The next two years will be crucial for the nation's energy industry, according to State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid on Saturday.

He mentioned this while speaking at a seminar titled, "Highest Utilisation of Natural Resources of Bangladesh: Philosophy of Bangabandhu" at Federation Bhaban in the city. "In the next two years, we have to be leapfrog in ending all our plans, and there will be huge challenges," he added.

The seminar was organized by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI), with its president Jashim Uddin serving as the moderator.

The State Minister said that the nation would recover from its gas issue in the following two years.

“We’ll bring unutilised gas from Bhola to Dhaka while the huge underground gas pipelines will be replaced with new ones ,”he said adding, the pipeline project will require about Tk 12,000 crore to implement.

According to Nasrul Hamid, the government's goal for the power industry is to now supply consistent and reasonably priced electricity after obtaining 100% energy coverage.

Energy Secretary Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder echoed the junior minister when he stated that starting in January 2026, industry won't experience any gas shortages.

"We have already signed long-term contracts with Qatar and Oman, and we are working to sign three more long-term agreements," he added, adding that the signing of further contracts to establish LNG terminals in order to boost storage and unloading capacity is also nearing completion.

In a lecture on the subject, renowned energy expert Dr. Badrul Imam stated that while the country is going through a severe gas shortage, two-thirds of the country is yet undiscovered.

Increasing regional gas exploration, according to him, is the best method to deal with the present gas issue.

Unfortunately, he noted, exploration work is seldom given the attention it deserves.

According to Sameer Sattar, president of the Dhaka Chamber, actions should be made right now to seriously explore gas across the nation.

Dewan Sultan Ahmed, a former vice president of the FBCCI, said that the Titas Gas authority frequently takes action to sever erroneous gas connections. However, they never say how long these illicit gas users have been using it without paying.

FBCCI advisor Abdul Haque said that despite different initiatives there is no major progress in gas exploration and what is the gap that should be identified.

Businessman Abul Hasnat said that it is very unfortunate that many businessmen submit files for renewable energy projects at the ministry. But files do not move at the necessary pace. Even some files are kept for more than six months at one place.