Policy decision on petroleum prices

Crude oil prices have fallen by almost 50 per cent since June and oil is now being traded at US$ 60 per barrel which was last seen five years ago. Other than the negligible quantity of condensate usually acquired from gas fields, Bangladesh has to import its total requirement of crude as well as refined oil from abroad.

From last November, prices of crude as well as refined oil have been continuously falling in the international market. But Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), an autonomous government entity, assigned to import both crude and refined oil, has not yet reduced its selling price of petroleum products in the country. In the past, when BPC imported liquid fuel, crude or refined, at higher prices, the government used to provide subsidy to enable it to sell the same at lower prices and thereby reduce the burden of the consumers.

The government may take a policy decision at times when oil sells at lower prices internationally. It may withdraw the subsidy and reintroduce the same when prices go up again. That is, when prices increase, the government should come forward to share the burden of the consumers. When the BPC will import crude at below US$80 per barrel on an average, it will sell the petroleum products at breakeven price, that is, it will not make profit and incur losses.

I would like to urge the Energy Regulatory Commission to formulate a policy decision regarding prices of petroleum products in the light of the above, so that the government and the consumers are benefited equally.

Md. Ashraf Hossain  

Central Bashabo, Dhaka-1214.

mah120cb@yahoo.com