AB Mahmud, the General Manager (Operations) of Ashuganj Fertilizer Factory, confirmed this to Bonik Barta.

Urea production was stopped for about 10 months, from February 21 to November 14 last year, due to a gas shortage. After long protests by workers, Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited (BGDCL) resumed gas supply on November 15. Considering the country's fertilizer crisis, the factory was reconnected to gas on January 23. However, 38 days after production resumed, the factory faced another gas shortage.

The daily gas demand for fertilizer factories in the country is 329 million cubic feet, but only about 189 million cubic feet are supplied. According to Petrobangla's gas production report, four of six fertilizer factories received gas on March 1. Ashuganj fertilizer factory had a demand of 52 million cubic feet but received about 47 million cubic feet. Meanwhile, the Jamuna Fertilizer Company and the large fertilizer factory at Ghorashal-Palash are practically closed. On March 1, these two factories required 117 million cubic feet of gas, but only 4 million cubic feet was supplied.

The authorities of Ashuganj Fertilizer and Chemical Company Ltd say that the factory can produce at least 1,100 tons of urea daily. To do this, the factory requires at least 48 million cubic feet of gas daily. Even though gas was supplied, the low pressure made producing urea at full capacity impossible. As a result, on Saturday evening, BGDCL authorities stopped supplying gas to the factory, leading to the indefinite suspension of urea production.

AB Mahmud, the General Manager of Ashuganj fertilizer factory, told Bonik Barta, "Urea production is impossible without gas. Therefore, production activities have been halted. We cannot say when production will resume."

When asked about the gas supply stoppage, Engineer Zahidur Reza, Deputy General Manager of Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited, said, "The gas supply to Ashuganj fertilizer factory has been stopped per the government's decision. When the gas supply will resume is also a government decision. It is possible that the factory will not receive gas supply this season."

The Energy Department plans to supply 1,200 million cubic feet of gas to power plants this month to reduce load shedding during Ramadan and summer. The gas supply to power plants is just over 870 million cubic feet. Within a day or two, gas supply to the power sector will increase by 300 million cubic feet.

A senior official of the Energy Department, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Bonik Barta, "Gas supply to power plants will be prioritized this month. As a result, gas supply is being reduced in areas where it is possible. However, this reduction is only for the month of Ramadan. There is no option to shut down any factory completely."