State Minister for Planning Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki said the country currently lacks adequate gas and electricity supply to match domestic demand, and announced the government has adopted a far-reaching plan to increase oil reserves from one month to six months to ensure the nation’s energy security. The existing reserve of one and a half months will be rapidly raised to three months, and subsequently to six months in phases.

He shared these remarks with journalists on Wednesday following a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) held at the Ministry of Planning in Agargaon, Dhaka.

The state minister noted that technical glitches at the floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Moheshkhali recently caused minor disruptions in nationwide gas supplies, which have already been resolved. While current supplies of gas and electricity fall short of demand, the government is emphasising boosting domestic gas production and generating renewable energy to overcome this shortfall. He added that coordinated measures are underway to further upgrade the power system.

Describing the power and energy crisis as temporary, Zonayed Saki assured that the government is working incessantly to resolve existing problems, and as part of the activities, it is importing gas from abroad regularly to meet urgent requirements; however, he pointed out that relying solely on imports will not fully eliminate the crisis — establishing necessary LNG stations is also vital. Acknowledging that setting up new LNG infrastructure will take some time, he assured that the electricity and energy situation will normalise shortly.