'Power, gas tariffs will not to be dropped now'

Dhaka, March 31 -- The government will reduce the oil and natural gas tariff only if the current downtrend in oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices in the global market continues for several months, Prime Minister's Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said Thursday.

Pointing to the government's stance over domestic oil and gas prices, Prime Minister's Energy Advisor said to the journalists, "It's true that the oil and LNG prices are in a downtrend in the international market. But we don't know how long it will continue".

While unveiling a publication titled ''Empowering Bangladesh by Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB)'' at DPDC Conference Room in Biduyt Bhaban in the city yesterday, he made these remarks.

Meanwhile, assessing the trend of daily spot crude oil prices- it is observed, The Brent crude oil price rose significantly in the first half of 2022 because of the start of Russian invasion in Ukraine but declined in the second half of the previous year, the Brent crude oil price stood at around USD 90 per barrel on an average in last six months. From January to March 2023, the price maintain downward trend with a decent margin.

On March 27, 2023, the Brent crude oil price stood at USD 78.12 per barrel, compared to USD 72.8 for WTI oil and USD 75 for the OPEC basket. Noted, Europe's Brent crude oil, the U.S.WTI crude oil, and OPEC's basket are three of the major benchmarks used by traders as reference for oil and gasoline prices. After December 14, 2022, Natural gas price also decline at a considerable rate as well.

Responding to a question PM's Energy Advisor said, the government has set up a huge number of power generation plants from an advance thinking of serving the future load in industrial sector.

"We set up the power plants keeping in mind that some 100 economic zones are being established across the country.

They will create a huge demand in power supply," he added.

Government would not allow open-cut coal mining in order to protect the underground aquifer and also the top soil of the fertile lands that yield huge crops in the country, Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury confirmed.

Shamim Jahangir the President of FERB presided over the program. Power Cell director Mohammad Hossain, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited's managing director Bikash Dewan also addressed in the function. Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from The New Nation. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at contentservices@htlive.com