Staff Reporter :
About 50 liters of Russian crude oil have arrived in Bangladesh’s Dhaka Shahjalal International Airport which will be sent to Chattogram Eastern Refinery for testing.
According to multiple sources of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the sample oil reached the airport on Wednesday.
The Russia’s fuel has not yet been released by the customs, sources told The New Nation on condition of anonymity adding that this oil will be sent to Chattogram refinery for testing.
“Russia’s top oil company, Rosneft, has offered to Bangladesh for refined oil, which is actually not fully refined. It must be purified again for use. This can be confirmed after sample testing. Then the price and other costs will be discussed. Import of oil from Russia is still in the early stage,” a senior official of BPC told this correspondent requesting not to name.
BPC scrutinizes various issues including oil quality, usability, price and import cost, he said adding that the sample of oil has not reached the laboratory till now.
He said that BPC received proposals from various companies regarding the import of oil from Russia. The corporation is looking for the issue as to how to get the oil by initially selecting three companies. A discussion is underway with the ministry and the companies in this regard.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Private Industries and Investment Salman F Rahman said that efforts are being made to bring oil through three oil tankers of the Shipping Corporation to save dollars.
In a view exchange meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday, he also said, ‘Oil will be imported from countries where the price of oil is low.”
Due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the price of fuel oil has increased in the global market.
In this situation, various countries including India and China are buying oil from Russia at a low price.
Amid this, Russia offered Bangladesh to buy refined oil last May.
Currently, the BPC imports refined fuel from eight countries – Kuwait, Malaysia, the UAE, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and India.
The US and its Western allies sanctioned Russia to cut it off from international markets and reduce its ability to fund and supply its war against Ukraine since 24 February this year. Restriction on Russian oil and gas was among a slew of sanctions which made financial transactions with Russian banks difficult for the rest of the world.
But the sanctions proved “selective” as the Western countries kept avenues open for securing their supplies of essentials including oil and gas, fertilisers and agricultural products.
Later on 7 July, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the war had affected the whole world while the sanctions on Russia by the West disrupted the global supply chain, urging the US to steer away from punishing the people of the whole world in a bid to punish one country.
On August 16, she directed the relevant ministries and departments to figure out a way to import fuel oil from Russia in their own currency.
