BPC importing 77,000 tonnes of diesel from India

The government is going to import 77,000 tonnes (578,420 barrels) of diesel from India through rail wagon to meet the domestic demand for a period of May-December this year, reports UNB.
According to official sources at the Energy Division, the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has already completed negotiation with the Indian authorities to this end.
Indian state-owned Numaligor Refinery Limited (NRL) will supply the fuel from its Siliguri marketing terminal through 35 wagons. Each wagon will carry 22,000 tonnes of diesel, said the BPC officials.
The wagons will reach Parbatipur oil depot in Bangladesh from Siliguri terminal.
An Energy Division document, obtained by UNB, reveals that Bangladesh have to spend about Tk 4.10 billion to import the bulk diesel.
The price of each barrel of diesel was fixed at $79.690 on the basis of standard operative procedure (SOP) while the premium of each barrel was set at $5.50.
The price was estimated as per Plutts' reference price of diesel on March 26, 2018 in the international market. The dollar rate was estimated at Tk 83.50.
Officials said the diesel is being imported from India as part of the government's 15-year deal under which a cross-border pipeline is being built from Numaligor refinery in the Indian state of Assam to Parbatipur oil depot, located in the northwestern bordering area of Dinajpur in Bangladesh.
Of the 130-km cross-border pipeline, named as 'Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline', some 125 km is located in Bangladesh side while only 5 km in Indian side.