Bangladesh has decided to import diesel (gasoil) from neighbouring India through the Brahmaputra river in small barges until completion of construction work of the first cross-country pipeline to carry petroleum products from that country, said officials.
The cleaner diesel with 0.05 per cent sulfur will be imported from India's Numaligarh refinery owned by Indian state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) chairman AM Badurudduja told the FE Saturday.
He said around 2,000 tonnes of diesel would be imported per month until building of the proposed 130-kilometre oil-carrying Indo-Bangladesh pipeline.
The BPCL will supply the diesel from its Shilghhat depot to the BPC's Baghabari depot, said Mr Badrudduja.
"We did not fix the premium rate yet, but expect that it would be lower than the existing rate," he said.
Bangladesh earlier had imported diesel for a brief period and a small quantity of 3,500 tonne from the BPCL in 2007.
The BPC had also imported around 400,000 tonnes of diesel from the Indian Oil Company Ltd during 2005-06, BPC officials said.
The BPC currently imports 0.05 per cent sulfur diesel at a premium of US$4.60 per barrel over the January-June 2015 period.
The BPC expects to start importing Indian gasoil within next several months on completion of negotiation over the premium rates, he said.
It expects to continue importing the gasoil until 2016 when, it believes, the proposed pipeline would be ready for operation.
Bangladesh and India earlier agreed to establish a joint venture (JV) firm to build jointly the first-ever onshore pipeline between the two neighbouring countries in South Asia to carry petroleum products from India's Numaligarh refinery to Bangladesh.
Earlier the BPCL and the BPC inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the JV firm to lay down the cross-country oil-carrying pipeline.
The planned JV firm would be responsible to build the pipeline and carry out its operation and maintenance, he said.
Headquarters of the JV firm would be in Dhaka, Mr Badrudduja said.
mazizur.rahman@outlook.com
