The government is going to import around 1.9 million tonnes of refined diesel, petroleum, kerosene, jet fuel, and furnace oil for the first half of the current year, a source at the BPC has said.
The fuel oil would be bought from 10 international petroleum companies for the January-June period to help cover the country’s total demand of 2.703 million tonnes, a Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) senior official told the Dhaka Tribune.
According to a BPC proposal, premium of the imported furnace oil, diesel, petroleum oil, and kerosene will be reduced from the previous premium that was set for the July-December period in 2014.
The premium for furnace oil will be reduced to $29.95 from $34 per tonne; the premium for every barrel of diesel will be $4.60 from its earlier price of $4.80; the premium for every tonne of petroleum oil will be $7.30 instead of $7.50; and the premium of every barrel of kerosene will be $5.50 from $5.80.
Seeking anonymity, the BPC senior official also said the premium for fuel oil had seen reductions in the first halves of recent years, as global prices have experienced a sharp drop to $74 from $110 per barrel.
The BPC – which is the country’s sole importer and distributor of oil – would have to spend around Tk7,535.23 crore for importing the 1.9m tonnes of oil, the official added.
The BPC proposal, signed by Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Md Abu Bakar Siddique and placed by the Energy Ministry, is likely to be approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase today.
Meanwhile, BPC Chairman AM Badruddoza told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the government procures fuel oil from different countries’ state-owned oil companies under government-to-government contracts.
Prices of fuel oil would be fixed according to the global prices that exist at the time of the purchase, he also said.
“The imported fuel oil is supposed to reach the Chittagong port throughout the year,” the BPC chairman added.
The government will procure 30,000 tonnes of petroleum oil from Turkish Petroleum International Company with a premium of $4.60 per barrel for the January-June period under government-to-government purchase, according to the proposal.
For the six months, the projected total demand for diesel is 1,725,000 tonnes; for furnace oil, the demand is 610,000 tonnes; for kerosene it is 145,000 tonnes; for jet fuel 160,000 tonnes; and petrol 63,000 tonnes.
The eastern refinery would refine 180,000 tonnes of crude diesel and crude furnace oil respectively.
According to the proposal, the other suppliers of fuel oil are: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, UAE-based Emirates National Oil Company, PT Bumi Siak Pusako of Indonesia, Philippines’ PNOC Exploration Corporation, Petrochina International (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Brunei’s PB Trading Sendirian Berhad, Malaysia’s PETCO Trading Labuan Company Ltd, China’s Unipec Singapore Pte Ltd, and Vietnam’s Petrolimex Singapore PTE Ltd.