The government may opt to stop supplying natural gas condensate to private refineries in the country after May 15 in a bid to limit their operations and ensure smooth commissioning of a state-run condensate fractionation plant.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD), which is under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), issued a letter on Monday spelling out its decision to continue supplying the condensate to privately owned refineries until mid-May, EMRD Deputy Secretary Akramuzzaman told the FE on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Petrochemical and Refiners Association of Bangladesh (PRAB) in a letter sought to renew their contracts for receiving supply of condensate from state-run gas fields for another five years.
The association sent the letter on March 22 to state-run Petrobangla which forwarded it to the EMRD seeking its decision over the issue.
A further decision regarding the renewal of contract might come from the EMRD after May 15, said a senior EMRD official.
Officials said some 13 private refineries are now in operation across the country and they are receiving a total of around 5,500 barrels of condensate per day, which is around 52 per cent of the country's total output of around 10,500 barrels per day (bpd), from state-run gas fields.
The remaining condensate is being supplied to seven state-run refineries or fractionation plants.
A new state-owned fractionation plant is expected to be commissioned at Rashidpur in Sylhet by June and some 4,000 barrels of condensate per day would be required to keep it operational.
Natural gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from the gas fields.
Refiners collect condensate as a by-product from the gas fields of Petrobangla and international oil companies.
Petrobangla had once suspended the supply to six private refineries in July 2016 after they were found guilty of supplying the condensate to petrol pumps illegally without refining.
It, however, resumed the supply of condensate to the six firms from June 2017 but slapped several conditions to check their malpractices.
According to officials, a sharp fall in the demand for petrol in the country is the main reason behind the move to limit the supply of condensate to private firms.
Car and jeep owners now prefer octane to petrol to keep the engines in good condition, which prompted the government to take the decision, they said.
Even state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) had to stop import of petrol several years ago due to its low demand.
As the demand for octane saw a sharp rise, the BPC started importing octane in 2017, after ceasing its import for couple of years, a senior BPC official said.
Local refiners are currently supplying around 160,000 to 180,000 tonnes of petrol and 180,000 to 200,000 tonnes of octane to the local market.
The BPC also get petrol and octane from its wholly owned subsidiary Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL).
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