Govt set to import 1.45m tonnes of oil next year

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FE Report
The government is set to import 1.45 million tonnes of refined and crude fuel oil from four countries at a cost of US$1.07 billion to meet the domestic demand partially in 2010, officials said Monday.
Energy division officials said they would seek approval of the government's highest body on public purchase Tuesday for finalising the oil procurement deals with the four oil suppliers.
The state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) would import 0.7 million tonnes of crude oil from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 0.6 million tonnes from the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (SAOC) of Saudi Arabia.
Besides, the corporation will import 90,000 tonnes of refined oil from the Philippines oil company PNOC and 60,000 tonnes from Egyptian company MIDOR during January-June period in 2010.
"In Tuesday's meeting, we would request the cabinet committee for approving the premium and other terms and conditions, which have already been negotiated with the oil suppliers," an energy division official said.
Continued to page 7 Col. 4"If the cabinet committee approves the proposed oil purchase deals, we will open letters of credit to import petroleum. We have already finalised terms and conditions with the suppliers through negotiations," a senior BPC official told the FE.
Bangladesh fully relies on imported fuel oils for meeting its local demand of 3.8 million tonnes per year.
The government has taken the move to out source some East and South-East Asian countries apart from its traditional key supplier Kuwait due to rising premium of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), officials said.
BPC officials said they had completed negotiations with Egyptian suppliers MIDOR for importing a total 0.18 million tonnes of oil during whole the year 2010.
Of the amount, 60,000 tonnes of refined oil would be brought for meeting demand in January-June period next year at a cost of $38.14 million and the rest 0.12 million during July-December period. The premium of the oil has been finalised at $3.90 per barrel.
Besides, the BPC has completed negotiations with the Philippines PNOC for supplying 90,000 tonnes of refined petroleum at a cost of $58.97 million for meeting the demand of the first half of 2010. Premium for the oil purchase would be $3.90 per barrel.
The BPC official said the UAE's ADNOC and Saudi Arabian's SAOC would supply 1.3 million tonnes of crude oil in 2010, which would be refined at the state-owned Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL).
Last year, the country's lone state-owned oil importer has also completed negotiations with the Malaysian state-owned oil company PETCO for procuring 1.4 million tonnes of refined petroleum at a cost of $850million in next calendar year.
Bangladesh consumes about 3.8 million tonnes of oil annually. It imports nearly 1.5 million tonnes crude oil, refined at state-owned ERL, and the rest 2.3 million tonnes refined oil form different oil exporting countries.