$960m oil import okayed

A government committee yesterday okayed import of 19 lakh tonnes of refined petroleum products during January-June period of this year at prices between $66 and $70 per barrel.

The cabinet committee on purchase approved 10 proposals of the Energy Division to import the fuel from various countries, including Arab Emirates, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, under state-to-state arrangements for around $960 million.

According to the Energy Division proposal, of the 19 lakh tonnes petroleum products, 13 lakh tonnes is diesel, 3.6 lakh tonnes furnace oil, and 1.6 lakh tonnes is jet fuel.

According to the Energy Division proposal, the price of diesel is $66.72 per barrel and $4.6 premium would be added to it which would take the total price to $71.32.

Jet fuel price per barrel would be $70.18 and $5.5 premium would be added to make the total price $75.68.

The price of furnace oil per tonne is $345.68 and after adding $29.95 premium the price would be $375.63.

An official of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said the price has been fixed on the basis of oil price in international market on February 6.

The actual price of oil is the average of oil prices over five days during the time of shipment, he said.

However, the government last week gave the nod to import 13 lakh tonnes of crude oil at an estimated price of $104-$114 per barrel.

The price of Brent crude oil was around $60 per barrel in the international market yesterday.

The official said as the oil price fell in the international market the premium decreased by $0.20 to $4.5 in January-June period of this year compared to the previous six months.

During January to June this year the government's total demand for petroleum products is 27 lakh tonnes.

A BPC official said as the oil price fell in the international market the BPC has now become a profitable organisation. He said the BPC board has decided that if the trend of low price persists, it would form an energy development fund using a part of the profit.