Full-scale oil transportation thru undersea pipeline from July

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 30: The full-scale transportation of petroleum products through undersea pipeline from Matarbari storage station in Kutubdia to the storage tank of the Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) in Patenga is expected to start in July next.
The authorities conducted a trial run of direct fuel oil transportation from Matarbari storage station that began on February 29 and a total of 60,000 tonnes of diesel reached the ERL storage tanks in March.
The pipelines were installed under a project titled 'Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline'. The China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Ltd (CPPEC), the appointed contractor, is expected to hand over the project by June, sources said.
Engineer Md Lokman, managing director of the ERL, said, "The initial pumping of both crude oil and diesel through the 94-km pipeline has successfully been completed. Besides, pumping of diesel from SPM was completed successfully earlier."
After the successful completion of pumping of diesel and crude oil from SPM, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will begin full transportation of petroleum products.
The BPC will appoint a firm for operation and maintenance of the project soon after it is handed over to the BPC, sources say.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the country's first SPM on November 11 last year.
The fuel oil-importing system of Bangladesh has entered a new era after the SPM inauguration. And the storage capacity of petroleum products of the country has increased to 1.3 million tonnes under the SPM project.
The SPM is being used to offload fuel oil from mother vessels that will save at least Tk 8 billion per annum.
The SPM makes the country's energy management system more economical, sustainable and environment-friendly.
After the start of the SPM operation, tankers can directly unload petroleum by the floating buoy set up in the deep sea, some 9.0 km southwest of Matarbari in Moheshkhali.

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