5 projects worth Tk 1250cr okayed

Single point mooring to be set up in deep sea for direct intake of petroleum by Eastern Refinery

11 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Unb, Dhaka

Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved five projects worth Tk 1250 crore. The Ecnec approved the projects at its meeting at the Planning Commission in the afternoon with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. Of the five projects approved, one is the installation of a single point mooring (SPM) in deep sea to facilitate direct petroleum transportation from ships to a refinery near Chittagong port through underground pipeline. Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will implement the project at a total estimated cost of Tk 954 crore, of which Tk 904 crore will be financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The remaining amount will come from the BPC's own fund and from the government. According to the project profile, the SPM will be installed at Kutubdia of the Bay of Bengal. A 77km 36-inch pipeline will be built from the SPM to the state-owned Eastern Refinery in Chittagong port area. After the installation of the SPM, the huge petroleum-carrier ships will be able to offload fuel directly to the pipeline to take the same to the Eastern Refinery. But under the current arrangement, big ships usually anchor at deep sea from where lighter vessels receive the imported crude and refined petroleum to carry to the Eastern Refinery with the whole process taking 12 to15 days. “But when the SPM will be set up with underground pipeline, it will take just 24 to 48 hours,” Planning Secretary Habubullah Majumder told reporters. At present, the country imports 3.8-4.0 million crude and refined petroleum fuel to meet the annual demands. This import is expected to rise significantly when a number of fuel-fired power plants will be set up in a couple of years. The other four projects approved by the Ecnec include South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project (Tk 58 crore), setting up of Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Eye Hospital and Training Institute at Gopalganj (Tk 141 crore), setting up of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park at Gazipur (Tk 64 crore) and construction of a by-lane of Soidabad-Enayetpur (Khaja Yunus Ali Medical College Hospital) Road (Tk 33 crore).