The government has greenlighted proposals to import 2.1 million tonnes of diesel and other sorts of refined fuel oil from six countries at Tk 190 billion this year.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation would bring in 60,000 tonnes of diesel throughout the year from India’s Numaligarh Refinery Limited at Tk 5.45 billion, Additional Cabinet Secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan said.
Although fuel oil prices change in the international market, the diesel would cost within Tk 90.84 per litre, Sayeed said, without revealing the details of how the prices were determined.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase also approved a proposal to import 2.04 million tonnes of refined oil from seven different state-owned companies in six countries in the first half of the year. The estimated cost for these proposed imports has been set at Tk 192.15 billion.
Fuel oil from Indonesia’s BSP, the United Arab Emirates’ UNOC, India’s IOCL, China’s PetroChina and Unipack, Malaysia’s PTLCL and Thailand’s PTT will cost Tk 89.29 per litre.
Bangladesh needed 6.7 million tonnes of fuel oil in 2021-22 fiscal year and the demand is rising 7-8 percent annually.
Domestic sources delivered about 600,000-700,000 tonnes. The government’s refining company Eastern Refinery is capable of producing 1.5 million tonnes of oil annually.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division has already received authorisation to buy 5.46 million tonnes of fuel oil from the international market for 2023.