Indigenous and imported natural gas and the economic growth of Bangladesh: The challenges ahead

The global consumption of natural gas is expected to increase at an average of 1.6% over the next 5 years from 3.7 trillion cubic meter (tcm) used in 2017. Although the current use of gas in power generation is dominant followed by industry, residential and other sectors during 2011-2017, the global industry is expected to be the main driver for gas consumption followed by power generation, residential and commercial and other sectors by 2023. Many countries including Bangladesh use natural gas primarily for power generation. Among the main reason was energy security, availability of smooth supply of own relatively cheaper natural gas. As the demand for power has increased and the country could not extract indigenous discovered coal due to complex mine water management and agricultural land rehabilitation, its indigenous fuel supply restricted utilizing installed capacity of power generation, impeding industrial growth and development. This paper reviews the status of natural gas in Bangladesh and the engagements of local and international oil companies in natural gas exploration. The paper highlights the need for transboundary gas importation and associated infrastructure to support its development activities. It is recommended that the indigenous and transboundary gas to be managed efficiently and a long-term strategy for sustained supply of fuel from multiple sources to be formulated to maximise the energy security and achieving Bangladesh Vision 2041. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.