Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, has assured that there will be no shortage of gas or electricity in the country due to the dollar crisis.
"The load-shedding that we experienced has been nearly overcome," he told journalists on Thursday, expressing optimism that the situation would continue to improve.
The adviser made these comments while discussing the current gas reserves and addressing misinformation regarding the gas discovery in Bhola on Thursday.
Clarifying the situation, he said: "The Bhola North gas field contains 2 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas and 2.6 TCF of resources that are accessible. However, reports in some newspapers claiming that the Bhola field holds 5 TCF of gas are entirely inaccurate."
Fouzul also highlighted ongoing initiatives to expand the country’s gas reserves. "We are planning to dig 100 more wells across the country," he said, adding that all future projects and tenders would follow open competition with input from expert committees to prevent any irregularities.
Regarding the payment for electricity from India's Adani Power, he mentioned that the government has requested $1 billion each from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as budget support.
"From these funds, we aim to settle dues related to electricity and gas, helping mitigate any future crises," he added.
On the issue of rental power plants, the adviser noted that no decisions had been made yet as existing contracts are still in force.
"These agreements cannot be cancelled at will. An expert committee is currently reviewing the matter, and actions will be taken based on their recommendations. Any allegations of corruption will be thoroughly investigated," he added.
In response to questions about potential corruption involving companies like Gazprom, S Alam Group, and Summit Group, he assured that a newly formed committee and a White Paper Committee were investigating the matter.
"Appropriate steps will be taken if any wrongdoing is uncovered," he added.