Bangladesh FSRU Resumes Regasification: 115 mmcfd Gas Supply Restored

Dhaka, August 7, 2026 — An immediate relief for industries, power plants, and household consumers from the fuel crunch has arrived as the closed floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) resumed operation — ending two weeks of industrial disruption that forced factories across Bangladesh to operate at severely reduced capacity.

The development came in the early hours of Thursday (August 6) after two weeks of ordeals following the tripping of the US company-owned facility after an accident. Located on the Moheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal, the unit resumed operation around 3:00 AM with successful repairing of one of its two boilers and was currently re-gasifying around 115 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of liquefied natural gas.

🛢️ FSRU Details and Recovery

• 🛢️ FSRU location: Moheshkhali island, Bay of Bengal
• 🛢️ Owner: Excelerate Energy (US company)
• 🔄 Resumed: August 6, ~3:00 AM
• 🛢️ Current regasification: ~115 mmcfd
• 🔧 Repair status: One of two boilers repaired; second still pending
• 📅 Incident date: July 21 (fire/accident)
• ⏱️ Downtime: ~2 weeks

The resumption of the FSRU provides immediate relief to industries that have been operating at 30-50 percent capacity due to the gas crisis. The 115 mmcfd of additional gas supply, while not enough to fully close the gap between demand (3.8 billion cubic feet per day) and previous supply (2.15 billion cubic feet per day), represents a meaningful improvement that could allow some factories to increase production from the severely depressed levels documented across multiple sectors.

📋 Impact on Industrial Sector

The FSRU closure since July 21 had cascading effects across Bangladesh's industrial landscape. Textile mills were operating at 30-50 percent capacity, plastic factories at 30 percent, garment factories at 60-70 percent, and 17-18 percent of Gazipur factories had declared three-day closures. The 115 mmcfd from the repaired FSRU boiler will help restore some of the lost production capacity, though full recovery depends on the repair of the second boiler and the resolution of broader gas supply constraints.

For the garment sector specifically, the gas supply improvement could not come at a more critical moment. With 565 workers just laid off at Alliance Knit Composite in Ashulia due to order slumps, LPP suspending $700 million in orders, and RMG exports to the US falling 5.75 percent in January-June, any improvement in production capacity that allows factories to meet delivery schedules and maintain buyer relationships is valuable. The 370 distressed factories recommended for the Tk 60,000 crore stimulus package will also benefit from improved gas supply, as financial support alone cannot revive factories that lack the energy to operate.

📋 Strategic Context

The FSRU resumption is a necessary but insufficient step toward resolving Bangladesh's energy crisis. The country's daily gas demand of 3.8 billion cubic feet far exceeds even the full operational supply of 2.7 billion cubic feet (with both FSRU boilers working). The structural gap of 1.1 billion cubic feet per day means that even with the FSRU fully operational, industries will continue to face gas rationing and production constraints. The economists from CPD, Policy Exchange Bangladesh, and RAPID have all emphasised that domestic gas exploration must be accelerated to address the structural supply deficit — a recommendation that the FSRU repair does not address. The resumption provides short-term relief, but the long-term solution requires the combination of domestic exploration, renewable energy investment, and energy efficiency improvements that the LDC graduation roadmap outlines. For now, the 115 mmcfd of restored supply represents a lifeline for industries that were on the brink of collapse — but it is a lifeline, not a cure. The second boiler's repair, when completed, will add another approximately 300 mmcfd to the supply, bringing the FSRU's total contribution back to its pre-accident level. Even with both boilers operational, the structural gap between supply and demand will persist, and the broader policy agenda of domestic gas exploration, renewable energy expansion, and energy efficiency improvement must continue if Bangladesh is to achieve the 7 percent GDP growth target outlined in the LDC graduation roadmap. The FSRU resumption should be celebrated as a positive development, but it should also serve as a reminder of how vulnerable Bangladesh's industrial economy is to single points of failure in its energy infrastructure — and why diversification of energy sources, including the rooftop solar capacity that is nearing 1,000 MW, is essential for long-term industrial resilience.

The FSRU resumption is a necessary but insufficient step toward resolving Bangladesh's energy crisis. The country's daily gas demand of 3.8 billion cubic feet far exceeds even the full operational supply of 2.7 billion cubic feet (with both FSRU boilers working). The structural gap of 1.1 billion cubic feet per day means that even with the FSRU fully operational, industries will continue to face gas rationing. The economists from CPD, Policy Exchange Bangladesh, and RAPID have all emphasised that domestic gas exploration must be accelerated. The second boiler's repair, when completed, will add approximately 300 mmcfd, bringing the FSRU's total contribution back to pre-accident levels. Even then, the structural gap will persist, and the broader policy agenda of domestic exploration, renewable energy expansion, and energy efficiency must continue. The FSRU resumption should be celebrated as positive, but it also reminds us how vulnerable Bangladesh's industrial economy is to single points of failure in energy infrastructure — and why diversification of energy sources, including rooftop solar nearing 1,000 MW, is essential for long-term resilience.