State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Friday said Bangladesh currently holds the highest refined fuel stock in its history and has secured supplies for April and May, with efforts underway to ensure availability for June.
He made the remarks during a visit to Eastern Refinery, the country’s sole state-owned oil refinery in Patenga, Chittagong.
“I can say with great responsibility and pride that Bangladesh now has the highest stock of refined fuel in its history, something that never happened before,” he said.
Amit said the government has already secured fuel supplies for April and May through confirmed supply lines and is now working to meet demand for June.
He said Eastern Refinery processes around 1.5 million tons of crude oil annually, sourced mainly from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the state minister, crude oil shipments scheduled for January and February arrived on time, but supplies for March and April were disrupted following the Middle East crisis that began on February 28.
“We want to make it very clear that if Eastern Refinery does not run at full capacity, the government increased the import of refined fuel so that there would be no disruption in fuel supply,” he said.
Amit said a pilot project on Fuel Pass has been launched, with further plans underway to reduce fuel queues.
He also said the government is managing load-shedding based on peak-hour demand.
“Our peak hour starts in the evening. On Thursday, peak demand reached 15,350 megawatts, while production stood at 14,846 megawatts, leaving a shortfall of 481 megawatts,” he said.
“In Chittagong, load-shedding was only 35 megawatts.”
When journalists said the port city was experiencing five to six hours of load-shedding, Amit rejected the claim.
“Let your information stay with you; I have received information from official channels. Whatever information you have, keep it with you and when I speak from my chair, every calculation and every word carries responsibility,” he said.