18.30 lakh tonnes fuel oil imports under G2G in 6 months approved 

The government will import 18 lakh tonnes of fuel oil under government-to-government (G2G) term contracts between July and December from state-run institutions in various countries at a cost of Tk16,484 crore.

The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), under the Energy Division, will purchase the fuel oil from companies in Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE, China, and Indonesia, said Md Mahmudul Hossain Khan, secretary (Coordination and Reforms) at the Cabinet Division.

Briefing journalists, he mentioned that the proposal presented by the Energy Division was approved during the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Procurement held on Thursday (11 July) with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.

Earlier last December, the Cabinet committee approved the state-run BPC to import 18.50 lakh tonnes of fuel oil under G2G term contracts, at a cost of Tk15,082 crore.

Additionally, another proposal for importing fuel oil under the G2G agreement was approved in Thursday’s meeting. The committee endorsed a proposal to purchase 30,000 tonnes of diesel from India’s Numaligarh Refinery Limited from July to December, costing Tk273.67 crore, Khan said.

In total, BPC will import 18.30 lakh tonnes of fuel oil under G2G contracts in the next six months, totalling the cost at Tk16,757.67 crore.

Apart from this, the state agency, which annually procures about 50 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oil, will also procure fuel oil through international tenders.

In another proposal by the Energy Division, the committee approved the purchase of one cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the spot market.

The LNG will be bought from Switzerland’s Total Energies Gas and Power Ltd at $12.58 per unit, or per mmBtu. One cargo consists of 33 lakh mmBtu of LNG, with a total cost of Tk583.56 crore.

With this LNG cargo, the Cabinet committee has approved Petrobangla to buy a total of 23 LNG cargoes from the spot market this year. Additionally, LNG imports are being carried out under the G2G agreement.

Apart from the Energy Division’s proposal, two proposals from the Ministry of Agriculture have been approved for the import of 80,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation will purchase the fertiliser at $275.50 per tonne, amounting to a total cost of Tk260 crore.