DHAKA: A Singaporean company has started supplying diesel to Bangladesh under open tendering system from early this month, following a switch from binding advance deals with suppliers.
Officials said Unipec Singapore Pte would supply around 1.055 million tonnes of diesel and jet fuel combined by June 2017 at a cheaper premium rate.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import 965,000 tonnes of 0.05 per cent-sulfur diesel and 90,000 tonnes of jet A-1 fuel through Unipec.
The Singaporean firm will supply 490,000 tonnes of diesel at a premium of $2.16 per barrel to Mean of Platts Arab Gulf (MOPAG) diesel assessments on a CFR (cost and freight) basis, and 475,000 tonnes of 0.05 per cent-sulfur diesel at a premium of $2.08 per barrel to MOPAG diesel assessments during January-June period.
It will supply 90,000 tonnes of jet A-1 fuel at a premium of $2.76 per barrel to MOPAG jet fuel assessments on CFR basis.
Separately, Vitol Asia would supply 120,000 tonnes of 180 furnace oil with 3.5 per cent sulfur content at a premium of $15.8 per tonne to MOPAG furnace oil assessments on CFR.
This happens to be the state-run BPC’s second incident of sourcing refined petroleum products through open tendering over the past ten months.
The corporation had floated similar tender in February last year, after a gap of 15 years, under which it bought a total of 1.32 million tonnes of 0.05 per cent-sulfur diesel and 180,000 tonnes of jet A-1 fuel from Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) and Unipec Singapore for delivery over June-December 2016.
Unipec Singapore was awarded contract for 660,000 tonnes of diesel at a premium of $2.57 per barrel to MOPAG 0.05 per cent- sulfur diesel assessments on CFR basis and 80,000 tonnes of jet A-1 fuel at a premium of $3.06 per barrel to MOPAG jet fuel assessments.
“Bangladesh government earlier had decided to source 50 per cent of its total refined petroleum products from international market through open tendering and the remaining half through government-to-government negotiations with state-owned international oil suppliers in 2017,” said a BPC official.
BPC has estimated import of around 4.0 million mts of refined petroleum products in next calendar year, which include 0.05 per cent-sulfur diesel, jet A-1 fuel, and furnace oil.
Bangladesh requires around 3.5 million mts of diesel to meet domestic demand, of which around 380,000 tonnes come from BPC’s wholly owned subsidiary Eastern Refinery Ltd.
The remaining 3.12 million tonnes of diesel is covered through imports.
