Russia to provide diesel at less than Tk 40 per liter

Bangladesh is also in crisis due to instability in fuel prices in the world market. To avoid losses, the government has already increased prices of all kind of fuel at an unusual rate. With the price hike effect, the whole market system has become more unstable. As a result, the government is looking for alternative sources of oil imports. In such a situation, the government is reaching out to Russia to buy fuel at a low price.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) held a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the chair on Tuesday (August 16). The issue of oil import from Russia was widely discussed in this meeting.

Prime Minister directed to review options on how oil can be imported from Russia. The head of government also asked why Bangladesh cannot buy oil from Russia while neighboring country India can.

It is known that various sanctions of Europe, including the United States, are in force against Russia. As a result, the country is looking for customers to buy oil. Last week, the Russian oil production and marketing company Rosneft again sent a proposal to sell refined oil to Bangladesh.

Earlier, Bangladesh was not interested in buying oil, but now thinking about it. In the meantime, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has formed a committee to discuss oil import from Russia.

According to BPC sources, BPC is currently spending about $125 per barrel (159 litres) to import diesel. The cost of bringing crude oil is 90 dollars. However, the Russian oil production and marketing company "Rosneft" will deliver diesel to Chittagong port at only $57.5 dollars per barrel. Accordingly, the import cost per liter of diesel will be less than Tk 40.

BPC officials say that they have received multiple proposals from the Russian company. One of the proposals is that they will deliver diesel to the customs point of Chittagong port. Its price will be 425 dollars per ton. If the barrel is calculated at 159 liters, the price per barrel will be 57.43 dollars. The government is working on it, they added.