A Long-Discussed Idea Returns to the Table
Bangladesh has been wrestling with a worsening energy deficit for years. Domestic gas reserves, once the backbone of the country’s power sector and industrial base, have been declining steadily. Gas fields in Sylhet, Comilla, and Chittagong that drove Bangladesh’s economic expansion in the 1990s and 2000s are maturing, and new discoveries have not kept pace with demand. Against that backdrop, the idea of importing natural gas from Myanmar through an overland pipeline has resurfaced as a serious policy option worth examining.
Myanmar sits on substantial proven natural gas reserves, particularly offshore in the Bay of Bengal. Its Shwe gas field, developed in partnership with Chinese and South Korean companies, has been producing for over a decade, with the bulk of its output flowing northward to China via a pipeline that runs through Myanmar’s interior. Bangladesh, geographically adjacent and energy-hungry, has long looked at that picture and asked an obvious question: could some of that gas flow west instead?
The Feasibility Question
The answer is complicated. A pipeline connecting Myanmar’s gas infrastructure to Bangladesh would need to traverse difficult terrain, cross an international border, and navigate a bilateral relationship that carries its own political weight. The two countries share a border in the southeast, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where geography alone presents engineering challenges. The pipeline would need to be long enough to connect Myanmar’s producing fields or its existing trunk infrastructure to Bangladesh’s national grid, a distance that would make the project capital-intensive from the outset.
Cost is only one part of the feasibility calculation. Bangladesh would also need to negotiate a long-term supply agreement with Myanmar that guarantees volume and price stability, something that is difficult to secure from a country whose political situation has been deeply unstable since the military coup of February 2021. Investors and lenders financing such infrastructure typically require sovereign stability and rule-of-law assurances that Myanmar’s current government cannot credibly provide.
Why Bangladesh Needs to Think Creatively
Bangladesh’s energy planners are not considering this option out of idle curiosity. The country’s power sector has been under significant strain, with load-shedding affecting households and industries across the country. Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, imported by sea has partially filled the gap left by declining domestic production, but LNG is expensive and exposed to volatile global spot prices. The energy import bill has put pressure on Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves, making cheaper, pipeline-delivered gas an attractive proposition in theory.
A pipeline, once built, delivers gas at a lower per-unit cost than LNG over the long term. That economic logic is what keeps the Myanmar pipeline idea alive in policy discussions even when the political and logistical obstacles seem formidable. For Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector, particularly the garment industry and the growing base of export-oriented factories, reliable and affordable energy is not a luxury but a competitive necessity.
Regional Energy Politics and the China Factor
Any Myanmar-Bangladesh pipeline discussion also has to reckon with the regional geopolitical context. China has already built the infrastructure it wanted through Myanmar. India has its own interests in Myanmar’s energy sector and in the broader connectivity architecture of the Bay of Bengal region. Bangladesh, for its part, has been careful to maintain balanced relationships with both its large neighbours, and a major energy infrastructure deal with Myanmar would inevitably be read through that lens.
There is also the question of whether Myanmar’s current authorities have the institutional capacity and international standing to be a reliable long-term energy partner. Bangladesh has previously explored energy cooperation with Myanmar on multiple fronts, including electricity interconnection, but progress has been slow and the political disruption since 2021 has made formal agreements harder to advance.
Where Things Stand
The feasibility of a Myanmar gas pipeline to Bangladesh remains genuinely open. The economic case has real merit, the geography is not impossible, and Bangladesh’s energy needs are pressing enough to justify serious analysis. What the project lacks, for now, is a stable political environment on the Myanmar side and the kind of multilateral financing framework that would make a cross-border pipeline bankable. Until those conditions change, the pipeline is likely to remain what it has been for some time: a compelling idea that the numbers support but the politics have not yet allowed to move forward.