Energy disruption hits Pakistan and Bangladesh as Gulf crisis worsens

Energy disruption hits Pakistan and Bangladesh as Gulf crisis worsens.

Key points

• One standard Pakistan LNG cargo is around 140, 000 cubic metres, equivalent to roughly 3 billion cubic feet of gas, or just over one week's supply.
• "Industrial growth is slowing down, and production is going down, " Power Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud remarked this week.
• Attacks by the US and Israel on Iran over six months ago led to the disruption of oil and gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
• In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, Parvin Akter times her cooking to the neighbourhood's availability of piped gas.
• Mohammad Musharraf, who lives in Karachi, notes he has spent days trying to register with his motorcycle and ID card number, but has struggled.

In Bangladesh, the shortfall has triggered blackouts and factory shutdowns. Pakistan and other countries in the region are rushing to blunt public anger with subsidies. Reuters Published September 17, 2026 Updated September 18, 2026 12: 10am.

In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, Parvin Akter times her cooking to the neighbourhood's availability of piped gas. With gas in intermittent supply since of a global energy crunch, she now sometimes has to wait until midnight to cook her dinner.

As power outages often leave food half-cooked, even switching to an induction cooker has not supported.

More than 2, 000 kilometres away on the other side of South Asia, in Pakistan, the administration has kicked off a fuel subsidy that went into effect on Wednesday to ease the sharp rise in fuel rates.

Vehicle owners have to register for the subsidy; nevertheless, residents have complained the programme is not working smoothly.

"First of all, you have to register your vehicle. Then you have to register your mobile phone. How can an illiterate person survive if the conditions are so tough?"

Attacks by the US and Israel on Iran over six months ago led to the disruption of oil and gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Now fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis additionally imperils trade through the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the challenges at the two chokepoints have driven Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) costs back toward $30 per million British thermal units this week, the second such spike this year, from regarding $10 before the war.

Shell estimates the world has lost roughly 36 million tonnes of LNG from the Middle East so far this year, and the shortage is particularly hitting countries where governments have limited financial leeway to intervene.

Bangladesh draws more than 40 per cent of its electricity from imported LNG, and disruptions in deliveries from Qatar – once the source of 95pc of those imports – have forced Dhaka to chase costlier cargoes on the spot market.

Notably, the strain demonstrates up in orders in its garments industry, the country's biggest export.

Meanwhile, a survey of knitwear factories by the BKMEA trade group discovered 55pc had seen buyers cancel or cut orders as of gas and power shortages since late August, and 78pc had partially halted production.

At one factory, a boiler ruined in mid-process by low gas pressure forced owner Alvi Islam to source fabric from China instead – a delay that led a buyer to cut a 50, 000-piece order to 40, 000.

Others had to take on extra expenses after energy-related production delays forced them to send finished products by plane to meet deadlines. Garment industry executive Fazlee Shamim Ehsan remarked his factory had to pay $50, 000 to send hoodie jackets by air freight to a French buyer.

"On top of that, we've had to spend extra money on diesel just to keep the factory running, " remarked Ehsan, who is the managing director of Fatullah Apparels Ltd.

In Tangail city, poultry farmer Sayedul Islam remarked power outages are killing 15 to 20 of his birds a day as he cannot run the electric fans needed to cool his sheds.

Even hospitals aren't spared. In Sylhet, power cuts hit the local hospital almost hourly. While generators keep intensive care units running, they don't always suffice for ward ventilation, leaving patients to cope with the heat in crowded rooms.

For context, the administration has stated it is seeking solutions. Fazlul Hoque of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry pointed to a directive to fix a non-functional LNG terminal. It would support more tankers unload.

Some, including business owner Ehsan, remarked they have noticed slight improvements in recent days with gas supplies increasing. Grids and gas tanks.

Pakistan's power grid is under a milder version of the same strain.

In practice, the administration has reintroduced austerity measures in a bid to conserve fuel, setting 9pm as the time for closing markets and reducing fuel provision for official vehicles by 50pc for a period of three months.

For context, the Pakistani power sector will need up to 400m cubic feet of gas a day through winter, Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) data demonstrates, with only two LNG cargoes confirmed so far for September.

While solar power has eased some of Pakistan's power crunch over recent years, the country still needs gas for other sectors and households, remarked Masood Nabi, chief executive of state importer Pakistan LNG, at Gastech this week.

Notably, the more immediate battle in Pakistan, though, is over transport fuel rates.

For context, the Prime Minister's Fuel Relief Scheme that took effect on Wednesday night offers motorcycle, rickshaw and small-car owners a subsidy of Rs100 a litre on a capped monthly quota.

Petrol has risen to roughly Rs391 ($1.41) a litre and diesel to Rs421 ($1.52) – a heavy burden in a country where the minimum wage is around $145 a month. Business leaders and workers say it isn't enough.

"We used to eat meat once a week, but now it is difficult to afford it even once a month, " remarked Amesh Gul, 32, a rickshaw driver in Karachi whose income has taken a hit with rising fuel costs.

"All I ask of the government is to please take care of poor people."

Header image: Individuals on motorbikes ride past a portrait of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set up in protest against rising fuel costs, ahead of the nationwide rollout of a administration fuel subsidy scheme, in Karachi on Sept 16, 2026. – Reuters. Iran war exposes cost of Asia's fossil fuel reliance.

Markets to close at 9pm as govt reintroduces austerity measures for fuel conservation. Dawn NewsKit Publishing Platform.

For now, energy disruption hits Pakistan and Bangladesh as Gulf crisis worsens remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.