Bangladesh鈥檚 largest gas distributor lost gas worth about Tk 3,000 crore during the past financial year as its system loss climbed further up compared with the year before.
The system loss, as reported by the state-owned company, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, reached 7.66 per cent in 2023鈥�24, up from 5.28 per cent reported in 2022鈥�23.聽
The overall loss of the company, responsible for supplying gas to about 30 lakh customers, mainly in five zones in Dhaka and Mymensingh, increased by 350 per cent.
Titas gas distributes 55 per cent of all gas produced annually.
The officially-announced system loss has always been viewed with suspicion. In 2022, a government analysis revealed the year鈥檚 system loss to be 13 per cent against the officially-announced 2 per cent.
鈥楾he system loss more or less has been the same always,鈥� said Arpana Islam, general manager, finance division of Titas gas.聽
She did not admit that the system loss was never as high as 13 per cent but confirmed that it was never 2 per cent either.
Officially, 2 per cent system loss was announced in 2021 and 2020 as well.
Titas officials also said that the system loss was never actually calculated. The loss was kept at 2 per cent following a decision of the energy ministry, they said.
Energy experts long accused Titas of corruption, gas theft and inefficiency and cited the mismatch in the account of system loss as evidence.
Authorities, however, came up with explanations, such as, its decades-old rusty and porous pipe line causing a substantial loss of gas every year.
In the past financial year of 2023鈥�24, the Titas鈥檚 finance division said that the company received 15,698 million cubic metres of gas and sold 14,495mmcm.
The sale of the gas earned the company Tk 35,692 crore.聽
The gas supply under the non-metered category, providing piped gas to households, increased by 5mmcm, though there was no reason for the supply to increase. A moratorium on giving new connections to households has been in place for about a decade due to rapid depletion of the gas reserve.
The 5mmcm of gas is equal to over 41 lakh tonnes of oil.
Household remains the country鈥檚 single-largest gas consumer category.聽聽
The increase in household gas supply indicates unabated theft of gas which often occurs with the help of the department鈥檚 officials through illegal gas connections.
Energy experts argue that establishing illegal connections by reaching gas pipelines buried deep under the earth is not possible without help from government officers.
Entire villages and neighbourhoods in cities can be found that run on illegal gas connections with pipes dangling dangerously overhead or running along the ground, exposed to direct human and transport contacts.聽
Titas has failed to come up with an exact account of illegal connections though the problem persists over decades.
In 2022鈥�23, Titas disconnected 2.82 lakh illegal connections through which all types of consumers鈥攊ndustries, households, commercial clients and captive consumers鈥攚ere involved in gas theft. Allegations are there that disconnected connects are usually are re-established bringing opportunity to the corrupt officials to make yet another round of illegal income.
The gas supply to industries dropped by almost 6 per cent in the last financial year with the supply in the sector falling to 3,842mmcm from 4,075 mmcm.
The drop in the industrial gas supply is shocking and runs counter to the narrative developed by the immediate past Awami League government about a robust economic growth.
鈥楨nergy crisis led to the drop in the industrial gas supply,鈥� said Kazi Mohammad Saidul Hasan, general manager, operation division of the Titas gas.
鈥楾he pressure of gas was particularly very low. Industries require high pressure for production,鈥� he explained.
Industrialists said that their reliance on liquefied petroleum gas greatly increased in the past year because the government had failed to ensure energy even after increasing its price.
In January last year, gas prices were increased by up to 179 per cent for industries, power and commercial sectors.聽
Some consumers, however, received more gas in the past financial year compared with the year before. For example, fertiliser industry received 135 per cent more gas, CNG filling stations received over 9 per cent more gas, while the power sector received 5 per cent more gas.聽聽
Titas, supplying gas with 13,391kilometres of pipeline, reported a loss of Tk 744 crore in the past financial year.
The loss rose by more than 350 per cent compared with the previous year for what the company said a rise in tax. Titas now needs to pay a minimum tax.
In the past financial year, Titas paid Tk 872 crore in tax against its distribution margin of Tk 303 crore.
Titas is a non-profit company that is allowed to charge only Tk 0.23 for distributing a cubic feet of gas.
In March 2022, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission revealed in a public hearing that Titas was charging its customers far more than it should regarding its actual supply.
Then Titas managing director Md Haronur Rashid Mullah admitted at the public hearing that 10 per cent of his employees might be dishonest.
Titas has nearly 2,000 staff.