The government has decided to import refined fuel oil worth around 12,537 crore taka to cover the remaining three-and-a-half months of the current year. The fuel will be purchased from China’s Unipec and PetroChina, and Indonesia’s BSP. The purchase proposals were approved at a meeting of the cabinet committee on government purchase on Wednesday (September 16).
Separately, without tender, the government’s cabinet committee on economic affairs also approved the purchase of another 695,000 tonnes of gas oil and jet fuel for the same period. Direct purchases without a tender require policy approval from a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs. Amid reduced supply and stockpiles of imported gas because of the war situation in West Asia, the same committee had earlier decided to buy 18 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) without tender. In August, it similarly decided, without tender and in two rounds, to import 22 cargoes of LNG. On August 19, it decided to buy a total of 14 cargoes of LNG, two cargoes each from seven companies. It also decided to import eight cargoes of LNG, and 5,000 tonnes of LPG to meet the country’s “emergency” LPG demand and ensure market “stability.”
Regarding Wednesday’s decision on refined fuel imports, the finance ministry said the earlier condition of purchasing at a 50:50 ratio through G2G deals and international tender was relaxed at the meeting. Accordingly, it was decided to import this refined fuel oil under G2G agreements from state-owned companies in China (Unipec and PetroChina) and Indonesia (BSP), at a cost of 12,537 crore taka.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively halted for nearly six months. Yemen’s Houthi fighters have recently also created a threat in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, adding a fresh crisis. To ensure energy supply, the government has had to import oil and gas at higher prices from sources outside West Asia, and at times has had to buy without tender simply to meet demand.