Jet fuel price hiked by up to 4.36pc for December

The energy regulator has raised the prices of jet A-1 fuel, known as aviation fuel, by 4.10 per cent to 4.36 per cent for international and domestic flights respectively for this month (December).

With the upward adjustments, the price of jet A-1 fuel has been fixed at US$0.6875 per litre for international flights from the previous rate of US$ 0.6604.

On the other hand, the price of the same has been hiked to Tk 104.61 per litre for domestic flights against the previous rate of Tk 100.24 a litre.

The increased rates came into force from midnight on Sunday last.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) revised the jet A-1 fuel price upward, taking the average of Platts rates, exchange rate of US dollars and settlement rate of letter of credit (LC) of state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), price change of diesel and changes in transport charges of tank lorries and coastal tankers into consideration.

With the December adjustment, the energy regulator has been fixing the jet A-1 fuel price for seven consecutive months.

Previously, the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) used to fix the fuel price unilaterally in line with the instruction from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR).

The BPC usually imports around 600,000 tonnes of jet A-1 fuel annually to meet its demands of both domestic and international flights being operated by local and international airliners, available data revealed.

Some local petrochemical companies also produce jet A-1 fuel after refining condensate.

With the latest hike in jet A-1 price, air-ticket prices for both domestic and international bound passengers might be dearer, market insiders said.

Azizjst@yahoo.com