Approval given to import over 1.5 million tonnes of fuel oil at Tk 16,000 crore

The government has approved the import of 1,525,000 metric tonnes of refined petroleum products under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement to meet the country's fuel oil demand for the period from July to December this year. The total cost of this initiative will be Tk 16,088.52 crore, to be borne by the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) from its own funds.

The proposal was approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury at the Secretariat on Wednesday.

Under the approved plan, BPC will import fuel oil on a G2G basis from six state-owned entities: Thailand's PTT (as the statement should specify, Thailand's PTT, not "OKY"), UAE's ENOC, China's PetroChina and Unipec, Indonesia's BSP, and India's IOCL.

The total imports will include 915,000 metric tonnes of gas oil, 280,000 metric tonnes of Jet A-1, 200,000 metric tonnes of furnace oil, 100,000 metric tonnes of Gasoline-95, and 30,000 metric tonnes of marine fuel.

According to the agreement, the premium per barrel has been set at $9.50 for gas oil, $10.15 for Jet A-1, and $8.49 for Gasoline-95. Additionally, a premium of $66 per metric tonne has been set for furnace oil and $85 per metric tonne for marine fuel.

Government sources said that during January to June this year, 1,240,000 metric tonnes of refined petroleum products were imported under similar G2G agreements. Considering the projected demand for the next six months, the decision has been made to import a larger quantity of fuel oil this time.