The construction of a proposed 3.5 million tonne per year refining unit that will quadruple the country’s crude oil refining capacity has dangled indefinitely for over a year, due to a lack of initiative by the Energy Division.
The government still has not appointed a project management consultant (PMC) for the second unit of the Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) even though the minister in charge of the Energy Ministry, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, approved the installation of the second unit on June 12, 2014.
The approval was given under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act, but the project has nevertheless been delayed.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, will implement the project.
“The preparation to appoint a PMC for the second unit of the ERL is in process. The second unit will be set up on 30 acres of land and will have a capacity three times greater than the existing refinery unit,” Secretary of Energy Division Md Abu Bakar Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said the second unit of the ERL, involving Tk9,000 crore of investor financing, will likely be set up by 2016.
The country’s lone refiner, Chittagong’s Eastern Refinery, currently refines 1.3 million tonnes of crude oil per year. It has an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.
The ERL was set up at Patenga near the Chittagong Port in 1968. It is a subsidiary of BPC, the sole importer and distributor of petroleum products and crude oil in the country.
A proposal by Technip, the French construction company that constructed the first unit of the ERL in 1967, to construct the second unit of the ERL, is now under active consideration by the government.
The BPC shortlisted 5 foreign consultants for work on the second unit and have sent them letters seeking Requests for Proposal (RFP).
Abu Bakar said once a consultant is appointed, a construction firm will be chosen to build the unit.
