The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is continuing its import activities to maintain regular fuel supply across the country despite the ongoing war in the Middle East.
A ship named "PVT Solana", carrying 27,300 tonnes of refined diesel from Malaysia has anchored at Chittagong Port's Dolphin Jetty-05, the company said in a press release on Wednesday, report agencies.
BPC sources said that the Panamanian-flagged ship arrived at the port around 3am on Tuesday. Two BPC officials were present at the time.
According to information from the BPC, the company is importing refined and crude fuel oil through G2G (government-to-government) contracts with state-owned enterprises of different countries and an international tender process.
According to the press release, Malaysia's Petco Trading Labuan Company supplied the shipment.
The BPC said that the unloading or pumping of diesel from the ship would begin around noon on Wednesday.
Two more shipments are scheduled to arrive at Chittagong Port in the first week of April, the press release said.
One of the ships - the "Yuan Jing He" - will bring 30,000 metric tonnes of diesel from Singapore. Another ship named "Central Star" will also arrive at the port with 25,000 metric tonnes of octane.
The BPC said in its press release that it is continuing import and supply activities to ensure Bangladesh's energy security despite the current global instability.
Meanwhile, A total of 7,000 metric tonnes of diesel has been imported from India through a pipeline to the Parbatipur depot in Dinajpur, marking the third such consignment this month.
Ahsan Habib Chowdhury, deputy manager (Operations) of Padma Oil PLC's Parbatipur Depot, confirmed the development on Wednesday. He said the import is part of ongoing government efforts to ensure the country's energy security through steady fuel supply from India.
According to depot sources, the latest shipment began its journey from the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam, India, where diesel pumping started at 6:45 pm on March 28. The consignment reached the Bangladesh terminal of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline at 10:30 pm on Tuesday.
Earlier, two separate shipments of 5,000 metric tonnes each were received at the depot on March 11 and March 23, respectively. With the latest addition, a total of 17,000 metric tonnes of diesel has been imported through the pipeline in three phases during March.
To maintain uninterrupted fuel distribution across the country, the Parbatipur depot has remained operational even on Fridays following government directives. The supply of diesel to authorized dealers has continued as usual.
Officials confirmed that the distribution of the newly arrived diesel began from Wednesday noon. To ensure security during the distribution process, members of the Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed at the depot.
Authorities report that the distribution is proceeding smoothly under strict supervision.
