The government is testing 50 litres of heavy crude oil brought as a sample before making a final decision on oil imports from Russia.
This crude oil sample arrived at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport a week ago and arrived in Chittagong on Wednesday.
JSC Zarubezhnef, a Russian state-controlled oil company, delivered crude to the Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL) in Chittagong through their local agent on Thursday.
According to the information provided, testing this sample at the Eastern Refinery will take a week.
As a result, the quality, usability, and relevant cost of this fuel will be known within the next week.
"Today, the local representatives of the Russian company officially handed over the sample oils to us," said Mohammad Lokman, managing director of Eastern Refinery.
"Our lab will test this crude, and the results will be available in about a week. As a result, it is scheduled to be delivered next Thursday, Saturday or even the week after," he added.
After testing at the Eastern Refinery in Chittagong, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will decide whether to import.
Recently, there has been a shortage of fuel on the global market as a result of the price increase caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Various discussions and criticisms of the country's rising fuel prices have already begun.
In this regard, the government began to look for fuel imports at a low cost from various oil-rich countries around the world.
Asian countries including China and India, along with other countries, purchased oil from Russia.
In May, the country proposed importing crude fuel into Bangladesh.
However, it was rejected in the first round by Bangladesh because Russian oil was considered not useful in the country back then.
According to officials, Russian oil has high sulfur content and must be refined, which will almost certainly cost more.
The consumption, on the other hand, can be determined by testing 50 litres of oil brought as a sample.