Govt set to import 1.4m tonnes refined fuel oil

The government will import 1.4 million tonnes of refined petroleum for a six-month period (July-Dec) of this year from seven state-owned companies of six countries.

The fuel-supplying companies are PTLCL of Malaysia, PTTT of Thailand, BSP Zapin of Indonesia, Enoc of United Arab Emirates (UAE), KPC of Kuwait and two companies from China — Petrochina and Unipec.
According to official sources, state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has already completed the negotiations with the suppliers and the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) also gave its nod to the procurement proposal on 21 August placed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
They said a similar quantity of petroleum products will be imported from international companies through an open tender process.
The annual demand for petroleum in the country is about 6.5 million tonnes of which about 5.6 million is imported refined fuel, the sources said.
They mentioned that the BPC follows such a policy as part of the government’s strategy to import half of petroleum products from state-owned companies of different countries through negotiations and remaining half from international market through open tender process to ensure a smooth supply of petroleum in the country.
Official sources said the planned import of 1.4 million tonnes of petroleum will cost approximately $819.306 million (equivalent to Tk 69.23 billion).
Of this, $784.857 million (Tk 66.32 billion) will be spent as value of the products while $34.449 million (Tk 2.91 billion) for premium which covers transportation and other charges.
Of the proposed import, official documents show, the diesel (gas oil) is 1.120 million tonnes (about 8.355 million barrel), jet A-1 is 145,000 tonnes (1.160 million barrel), petrol (mogas) 30,000 tonnes (258,000 barrel) and furnace oil 140,000 tonnes.
The BPC set the premium price at $2.95 for each barrel of diesel while $3.95 for each barrel of jet A-1, $4.90 for petrol and $28.25 for each tonne of furnace oil while the price of petroleum will be fixed on average of five days price as per bill of landing date.
As per the negotiation, the BPC will import 130,000 tonnes of diesel, 10,000 tonnes of jet A-1 and 40,000 tonnes of furnace oil from Malaysia’s state-owned PTLCL while Thailand’s PTTT will supply 60,000 tonnes of diesel and 20,000 tonnes of furnace oil.
Indonesia’s BSP Zapin will supply 90,000 tonnes of diesel and 40,000 tonnes of furnace oil, 30,000 tonnes of petrol and 15,000 of jet A-1 while UAE’s ENOC will supply 90,000 tonnes of diesel and 20,000 tonnes of furnace oil.
Kuwait’s KPC will provide 540,000 tonnes of diesel and 120,000 tonnes of jet A-1 fuel while China’s Petrochina 60,000 tonnes of diesel and 20,000 tonnes of furnace oil.
Another Chinese state-owned company Unipec will supply 150,000 tonnes of diesel, said the sources at the BPC