The Gas Development Fund (GDF) was established in 2009 to finance development and reform work in the country’s gas sector. The fund was mainly formed by collecting money from consumers. By June 2025, the fund had accumulated around BDT 180 billion. Although around BDT 75 billion was spent on gas exploration and development, the country’s gas reserves did not increase as expected. On the other hand, after using the fund to buy LNG and transferring money to the state treasury, it is now almost depleted. Currently, the GDF holds around BDT 13 billion.

According to Petrobangla data, from August 2009, when the Gas Development Fund was formed, to June of this year, a total of BDT 177.07 billion was deposited in the fund. Out of this, BDT 74.03 billion was spent on 45 projects for gas exploration, well drilling, and maintenance, implemented by local gas extraction companies BAPEX, Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL), and Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL).

Over the past 16 years, more than BDT 160 billion has been spent from the Gas Development Fund, but nearly 51 percent of it was used to purchase LNG and make payments to the state treasury. Experts say most of the money deposited by consumers into the GDF was used in violation of the rules.

Dr. M Shamsul Alam, Professor at Daffodil International University and Energy Adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), told Bonik Barta, “The Gas Development Fund is public money. The Energy Division has taken it over. Several policies were crafted early on to get access to this money. Through those policies, they took funds from the GDF. This is deception against the people. CAB will hold accountable everyone who helped misappropriate this money. The GDF belongs to the citizens, and it should be used based on public decisions. But none of that has happened.”

According to Petrobangla data, BDT 90 billion from the GDF was spent on LNG imports and transferred to the state treasury—an amount that accounts for 50.81 percent of the total fund deposits. As of now, over BDT 13.04 billion remains in the fund.

Regarding the matter, AKM Mizanur Rahman, Director (Finance) of Petrobangla, told Bonik Barta, “Based on the financial strength of Petrobangla and the Gas Development Fund, four projects have been undertaken. In addition, the money taken as loans from the GDF for LNG imports will be returned gradually if the revenue generated from LNG charges reaches a satisfactory level in the future.”

In 2022, amid a severe financial crisis and efforts to ease the country’s gas supply shortage, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) requested the Finance Division to approve a BDT 20 billion loan from the GDF to Petrobangla. The Finance Division later approved the use of the fund. Since then, Petrobangla has taken a total of BDT 60 billion in loans from the GDF to import LNG.

Earlier, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the country faced a severe financial crisis, the government enacted a law requiring surplus funds from various government agencies and institutions to be deposited into the state treasury. Under this law, in 2021, Petrobangla showed its surplus to the Gas Development Fund (GDF) and handed over BDT 30 billion to the Finance Division.

Asked about the matter, Mohammad Saiful Islam, Secretary of the EMRD, told Bonik Barta, “The Gas Development Fund cannot be used to buy LNG or be deposited into the state treasury as surplus. Especially regarding the BDT 30 billion deposited in the treasury, two letters have been sent to the Finance Division requesting its return. But the Finance Division took the money through legislation. That’s why they won’t return it. On the other hand, Petrobangla borrowed BDT 60 billion from the fund to buy LNG. That money will be repaid because the GDF is not intended for such uses. There is no scope to use it outside of gas exploration, development, and maintenance activities.”

On July 30, 2009, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) increased gas prices by just over 11 percent on average to create the Gas Development Fund, which came into effect on August 1 of the same year. On June 30, 2019, gas prices at the consumer level were raised by 38.2 percent. At that time, an order was issued to deposit a portion of the price (BDT 0.46 per cubic meter) into the GDF.

Currently, the country has just over 8.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas reserves. Over the past four years, the local gas reserve has declined by an average of 200 million cubic feet per day. To increase domestic gas reserves, Petrobangla has undertaken a project to drill 50 wells, which is expected to add 618 million cubic feet of gas to the grid within this year. Additionally, an initiative to drill another 100 wells by 2028 has been taken. These projects require funding for implementation. For this purpose, the GDF was supposed to be used. However, due to the funding shortage, energy experts have raised concerns regarding how these projects will be carried out.