A ‘controversial’ company Vitol Asia Pte Ltd is all set to expand its energy business in Bangladesh by bagging yet another lucrative deal. It is now in the process of securing an LPG terminal-building job under an unsolicited deal. Vitol has already been a leading supplier of diesel, jet fuel, furnace oil and octane to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) since 2016. It is so far the lone carrier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from spot market for the Petrobangla. The company was blacklisted thrice in Sri Lanka for supplying dirty fuel and its US unit was accused of bribing officials in three Latin American states to secure bids. Bangladesh welcomes such a controversial company that may disrupt LPG supply and ultimately put the negative impact on LPG consumers.
The said company has inked a long-term sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with Qatar Petroleum this week to supply 1.25-million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG to Bangladesh. To get the work on the maiden LPG terminal at Matarbari deep sea, Vitol has partnered with Japanese Marubeni Corporation and local PowerCo International Pte Ltd. The BPC recently decided ‘in principle’ to award the job to the Vitol-led consortium based on an unsolicited offer under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act-2010. The existing law has a provision of immunity to those involved in a quick fix.
More than 25 LPG companies, which vary in size and investment, are now operating in the Bangladesh market. LPG consumption in Bangladesh has already reached an estimated 1.5 MTPA, which was around 1.0-million tonnes back in 2018. The BPC reportedly agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with the consortium and subsequently sought permission from the energy and mineral resources division for a go-ahead. The consortium was a late entrant to the talks with government entities to build the country’s much-needed LPG terminal. Without proper bidding, single-source purchase in most cases involves corruption and the big work order to a controversial company may affect the quality of work at lone LPG terminal. The ministry should launch an investigation if there is any corruption, organise strong vigilance and quality control for this project.
