UNB, Dhaka :
The government will import 1.3 million metric tonnes of crude petroleum from Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi for the current calendar year, officials said.
Of the bulk petroleum, they said, 600,000 metric tonnes is Arabian light crude oil which will be imported from Saudi Arabia’s state-owned company Saudi Aramco, while the remaining 700,000 mt is Barban crude oil to be imported from Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company – ADNOC.
According to the official sources, the Energy Division has already initiated a move to import the crude petroleum. The state-owned Eastern Refinery will refine the fuel for supplying across the country through different petroleum distribution companies.
Officials said, Bangladesh has standing agreements for a long time with both Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi to import the crude oil. “But, every year the contracts need to be renewed by both sides to make those effective for one year import,” said a senior official at the Energy Division.
Bangladesh annually needs a total of 5.5-6.0 million metric tonnes of petroleum to meet the domestic requirement. Of this, 1.3 million tonnes are crude oil while the rest is refined oil.
The crude oil is refined by only the state-owned refinery at Eastern Refinery Limited in Chittagong.
As per an estimate made by the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, the country will need to spend about $1.245 billion to import the 1.3 million tonnes of crude petroleum.
Considering the ups and down at the international market, the FOB price of per barrel of crude petroleum was estimated to be at $ 125.29 during January-June period while $130.29 for the July-December period of the year.
However, the present price of Brent Crude Oil on the international market is about $111 per barrel.
As per the estimated cost, the import of 600,000 metric tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia will cost about $563.55 million (about Tk 4418.26 crore) while 700,000 metroc tonnes crude oil from Abu Dhabi will cost $682.40 million ( about Tk 5,350.04 crore). The total cost is equivalent to Tk 9768.30 crore.
Officials at the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation said the influx of liquid fuel-fired rental and quick rental power plants sharply pushed up the demand for the petroleum in the country.
Budget documents show that the government has to pay a subsidy of Tk 91 billion in the fiscal 2010-11 and Tk 62 billion in the fiscal 2012-13.
