The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has stated that there is no shortage of fuel in the country at the moment.
“Bangladesh has enough stock of fuel right now and there is nothing to worry about as import schedules have been prepared for the next six months as well,” BPC chairman ABM Azad has said.
Around 50,000 tons of octane and 30,000 tons of diesel will reach Bangladesh within a couple of days, the BPC chairman added, urging people not to pay heed to rumours about an oil crisis.
The BPC chairman was speaking during a media call at the corporation office on Wednesday.
According to him, the country now has a diesel stock of 431,835 tons, octane stock of 12,238 tons, and 21,883 tons of petrol. Additionally, there are stocks of 62,891 tons of jet fuel and 85,041 tons of furnace oil.
“It does not mean that BPC will stop imports from tomorrow. Import, storage, and supply are a cyclical process,” he said.
No order for limited fuel
The BPC has not issued any order to refuelling stations to limit supply of fuel for vehicles.
On Tuesday, a photo went viral on social media claiming that motorcycles can take a maximum of Tk400 in octane and vehicles can take a maximum of octane or diesel for Tk3000 in an effort to limit the use of fuel.
But the BPC chairman said no such instruction has been given and supply of fuel to different petrol pumps remains normal and stable.
Regarding social media posts on the scarcity of fuel stock and limited fuel offered to vehicles by some petrol pumps, he asked people not to pay heed to rumours.
Orders have been issued to the law enforcement agencies and district administrations to take legal action if anyone wants to negatively use this situation and tries to take it as an opportunity to cause mischief, he said.
Meanwhile, a press release by the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources reconfirmed the availability of enough stocks of fuel in the company depots under the BPC.
The ministry said nine ships carrying fuel arrived in Bangladesh in July, and another eight are scheduled to arrive in August.
Bangladesh has already received 255,000 tons of diesel from all nine ships arriving in July, as well as 43,000 tons of jet fuel from two ships, 24,677 tons of octane from one ship and 53,358 tons of furnace oil from two ships, according to the press release.
Bangladesh successfully manufactures 100% percent of petrol and meets around 40% of the demand for octane.
In August, eight ships are scheduled to bring in 218,000 tons of diesel, one ship will bring in 25,000 metric tons of jet fuel, and another ship will carry 25,000 metric tons of octane.
The ministry said 50% of imports planned for the next six months will come through government-to-government agreement, and the rest through open tender.