The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase has consented to procuring 1.85m tonnes of refined fuel oil for Tk4,868 crore, which comes to more than $75 a barrel including transportation and freight costs.
The current price of fuel oil in the international market is $36.43 a barrel.
The price was $61.31 a barrel in June when the contracts were signed by the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to procure fuel oil for the July-December period this year from 11 national oil companies.
Additional Secretary Mustafizur Rahman said a large portion of the refined fuel oil would be imported from China, Malaysia and the Philippines under a government-to-government arrangement.
According to Energy Division proposals signed by Additional Secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury, Turkish Petroleum International Company will supply 3,000 tonnes of refined diesel to Bangladesh at a premium of $4.50 per barrel.
The BPC will buy the rest of the refined fuel oil from 10 national oil companies, including Malaysia’s Petco Trading Labuan Company, Philippines National Oil Co (PNOC), Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC), Brunei’s PB Trading Sendirian Berhad, Vietnam’s Petrolimex, Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Indonesia’s PT Bumi Siak Pusako Zapin and Oman Trading International.
BPC will also procure fuel oil from China’s Unipec Singapore Pte Ltd and China ZhenHuaOil Ltd.
According to the proposals, the per barrel premium for diesel is $4.50, jet fuel $5.49, octane $7.45 and furnace oil $24.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith presided over the meeting which also approved a proposal to appoint a Chinese consultant for the construction of a 3.4 kilometre tunnel under the Karnaphuli River, proposed by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority.
Officials said the estimated cost of the Karnaphuli tunnel was Tk5,046 crore, increasing to Tk6,487 crore if value added tax is tagged on.
On November 24, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the Karnaphuli tunnel project at a cost of Tk8,447 crore.
The Exim Bank of China will provide Tk4,799 crore and the Bangladesh government will arrange the rest of the funds.