Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association has withdrawn its planned symbolic closure of CNG filling stations on July 30, citing the ongoing gas crisis. The group said its previously announced plan to shut all CNG filling stations nationwide indefinitely from August 23 would remain in force if its demands and problems are not resolved positively and reasonably. Steering committee convener Amiruzzaman Chowdhury announced the decision at a July 27 press conference at Akram Tower in Bijoynagar, Dhaka.

General Secretary Farhan Noor said the association did not want to increase public suffering while gas supplies were already being disrupted nationwide because of problems in Maheshkhali. The association said part of the floating LNG terminal operated by Excelerate Energy in Maheshkhali caught fire, causing a gas-supply disruption, and that it withdrew the symbolic programme to cooperate with the government.

The association said CNG operators had been compelled to announce action because of continuing losses. It said a July 25 meeting with the Petrobangla chairman discussed gas supply conditions and its demands, but produced no specific proposal for resolving the problems. The group also cited expert committee recommendations from 2013 and 2017 and repeated communications with government bodies without a solution.