It would have been better to keep fuel oil price high: Energy advisor
Prime minister's power, energy and mineral resources adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury on Wednesday said it is very difficult to estimate the global oil price.
“It would have been better to keep fuel oil price high since we do not know what lies ahead. Fuel oil price was slashed by Tk 5, but who knows how long this reduced price will last,” he said.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury made these remarks in response to queries on reduction of fuel oil price from newsmen at a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury called the press conference to share his experience during his recent visit to the US.
Replying to a query on if import duty was reduced ahead of price hike, it was not necessary to slash the price now, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said if the National Board of Revenue (NBR) withdraws the duty tax on the fuel oil, from where the NBR will receive the revenue. If revenue does not come, how development will happen then. Reducing price by lowering duty may not be feasible too, he added.
Asked on any possibility of immediately reducing fuel oil price, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said nobody knows about it except Allah and it is not possible to say anything instantly about ensuring fuel oil security.
It is also difficult to feel the impact of reducing fuel price by 4 per cent only, he said adding that price of goods is increasing mainly because of import and depreciation of taka against dollar.
On the condition of loan by IMF on hiking fuel oil price, the energy adviser said Bangladesh is also a shareholder of IFM. It is good to discuss about loan but they have no condition for raising the price.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said that if Bangladesh wants to import oil from Russia, the US will not oppose it.
He said the US under secretary of state for energy Jose W Fernandez was asked about the matter the US under secretary replied saying there is no sanction on the import of fuel, fertiliser and foods. So, the US should not have any objection on the import of fuel from Russia and other sources.
But, whether Russia will provide oil at low price could not be learned yet, so, it cannot be said anything for certain that whether fuel crisis will be resolved once oil from Russia arrives, he added.
On load shedding, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said it may take a month or two to ease the situation and load shedding will reduce once weather starts cooling off and big coal-fired power plants go into operation.
Citing the fuel crisis is a global crisis, he said some quarters and media are trying to take it in a different way and had the price of fuel oil decreased there would not have been any crisis in Bangladesh and existing crisis has aroused from fuel oil price hike.
On domestic gas exploration, he said there is a reserve of 5 tcf in 19 gas fields and many of these fields are small. Gas exploration has been carried out and gas exploration will continue on land while foreign companies will be called for offshore gas exploration, he added.