Omera Petroleum starts supplying LPG

Omera Petroleum Ltd (OPL) has started supplying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to households and industries from last week with a view to meeting the growing demand of LPG in the country.
"We have started supplying LPG cylinders to Dhaka, Chittagong, Mongla and Bogra from Thursday to meet the rising demand of LPG in these areas," OPL chief executive officer (CEO) Ishtiaq Ahmed told the FE.
"Omera Petroleum Ltd is a subsidiary of lubricant supplier MJL Bangladesh. We have set up a mother plant in Mongla and three satellite stations in Bogra, Ghorashal and Chittagong. Our total investment is around US$ 63 million."
Mr Ahmed also said: "We have the country's first LPG-carrying barge named Omera Princess for transporting LPG from Mongla to Ghorashal, incorporating European technology at its facilities."
"We have six modern tankers to supply LPG to different areas of the country by road," he added.
OPL general manager (sales and marketing) Nurul Alam said it has introduced three types of LPG cylinders - 5.5-kg, 12-kg and 35-kg - and price of the cylinders are Tk 900, Tk 1,300 and Tk 4,200 respectively.  
He further said Omera imports LPG from Vietnam and Malaysia, and its yearly LPG filling capacity is 100,000 tonnes.
The company has a separate LPG cylinder factory, where it can yearly produce 500,000 cylinders with European standards and technology, he concluded.   
In reply to a question, the OPL CEO said the cumulative growth of LPG in Bangladesh is around 12 per cent in the last couple of years. The growth will depend on the government's strategic policy on providing new gas connections in future.
Existing players in local LPG market are - Bashundhara, Jamuna Spacetech, French TotalGaz and Australian Kleenheat or Petredec Elpiji.
Some 80 per cent of the local demand is met through import, mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and China, while Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) produces the rest.
Annual consumption of LPG in the country is estimated at 100,000 tonnes. The current plant-gate price of each 12-kg LPG cylinder of Kleenheat or Petragaz is Tk 1,200, that of Bashundhara Gas Tk 1,250, Total Gaz Tk 1,180 and Jamuna Gas Tk 1,130.
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