DHAKA: State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation plans to import 2,200 mt of 0.03% sulfur gasoil from India’s Numaligarh refinery owned by state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., BPC’s director for operations and planning Mosleh Uddin said Monday.
The gasoil is to be imported to Parbatipur in Bangladesh on 50 wagons belonging to the Indian Railways. The price would be similar to what BPC pays for the 0.05% sulfur gasoil it currently imports, another BPC official said Monday.
It would have to pay a premium of $7/b to the Mean of Platts Arab Gulf 0.05% sulfur gasoil assessments on a CFR basis. BPC currently imports 500 ppm sulfur gasoil at $4.40/b to MOPAG Gasoil assessments, CFR, for delivery over January-June.
The train carrying the gasoil would be flagged off from Siliguri by India’s Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, the official said, adding that the date had not yet been finalized, however.
BPCL was to have started exports on March 17, but BPC asked for it to delayed, said Mosleh Uddin. “This is only a single consignment,” he added. Bangladesh imported a small volume of gasoil, 3,500 mt, for a brief period from BPCL in 2007. BPC had looked at importing gasoil from BPCL last year but it came to nothing as the infrastructure at the river port from where the cargoes were to load got damaged due to floods.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in April last year to establish a JV to build an onshore oil products pipeline as well as operate and maintain it, the official said. Bangladesh currently imports around 3.5 million mt/year of gasoil.
