Petrobangla shuns BERC confce
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission in a technical conference on Monday failed to finalise a draft policy for spending the Gas Development Fund due to the absence of any authorised official of Petrobangla, the designated keeper and spender of the fund.
The BERC chairman, representatives of the Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh and CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners’ Association, and experts expressed their grievances at the absence of any authorised official of Petrobangla in the decision-making meet.
Petrobangla senior deputy general manager of accounts Tofael Ahmad did attend the conference but refused to say any thing about the opinions and suggestions tabled by other stakeholders on how to frame the policy as he was not authorised to do so.
BERC chairman Syed Yusuf Hosssain remarked that Petrobangla could send an authorised official of any rank that would help the commission draw up the draft.
He said, ‘Petrobangla has been given two days to explain its position on the opinions and suggestions of the stakeholders present in the conference. If it fails to respond within that time, the commission will finalise the draft on its own.’
Energy expert professor Nurul Islam of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and CAB representative professor Shamsul Alam demanded to the BERC to ensure participation of authorised representatives of Petrobangla, energy division, the National Board of Revenue, and other government departments concerned for strengthening the commission’s activities.
Professor Nurul Islam also suggested that the BERC should draw attention of the prime minister to such irresponsible activity of a government agency.
Monday’s conference was an extension of the second technical conference on the issue held on October 31 as the BERC chairman and board members adjudged that the discussion on that day on a policy drafted by Petrobangla was not sufficient for drawing up the policy.
The Gas Development Fund has been formed with the accumulated additional revenue generated by the increased gas tariff. The gas price was raised by 11.22 per cent at the consumers’ end from August 1, 2009 by an order of the BERC. It has been estimated that more than Tk 700 crore will be added to the fund every year and the size of the fund will cross the Tk 1000 crore threshold soon as the production and distribution of gas have been increasing.
The commission made a condition that the fund must be spent by the state-owned agencies for building national capacity in gas exploration and development aimed at ensuring the country’s energy security.
Petrobangla will maintain and spend the fund strictly in line with the policy to be finalised in consultation with the power and energy ministry, the BERC chairman told New Age on Monday.
