Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), the country’s sole state-owned oil refinery, is on the verge of a temporary shutdown as crude oil imports have remained suspended for the last one and a half months.
According to reliable sources within the Fuel Division and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), current stocks—including "deadstock" (oil settled at the bottom of storage tanks) and oil remaining in the pipelines—can only sustain production until April 10.
The refinery usually processes an average of 4,500 tons of crude oil daily. However, due to the deepening crisis, production has been slashed to 3,500 tons per day to stretch existing reserves.
Data as of April 4 indicates that usable crude oil stocks have dropped below 2,000 tons. Beyond this, approximately 10,000 tons of deadstock and 5,000 tons of pipeline oil are being salvaged.
Harvesting oil from the pipelines requires specialized pumping into tankers. Combined, these reserves offer only about five days of operational capacity.
The government is scrambling to secure shipments to prevent a complete halt in operations, sources said.
BPC Chairman Md. Rezanur Rahman stated that a Notification of Award (NoA) was issued to a company on April 1 for the import of 100,000 tons of crude oil.
"We expect the Letter of Credit (LC) to be opened by Monday. If the oil tanker reaches the country by April 15, we might be able to bridge the gap using deadstock until then," the Chairman added.
Furthermore, the Cabinet Committee on ‘Government Purchase’ approved a proposal on March 31 to procure 100,000 tons of crude from the Malaysia-based 'Abir Trade and Global Markets.'
Additionally, another 100,000 tons of oil from Saudi Arabia is scheduled to depart for Bangladesh on April 18.
Despite the precarious situation at the refinery, officials maintain that there is no immediate threat of a nationwide fuel crisis.
Fuel Division spokesperson and Joint Secretary Monir Hossain Chowdhury explained that ERL accounts for only 20 percent of the country’s total fuel demand.
"Since the onset of regional tensions, such as the Iran conflict, we have significantly reduced our dependency on the refinery by increasing the import of refined fuel," Chowdhury said.
Port schedules indicate that two vessels carrying 60,000 tons of refined oil are expected at Chattogram Port today, (April 5). Another 60,000 tons of refined oil from Indonesia is expected later this week.
Supplies of diesel via pipeline and ship from India, along with scheduled arrivals from China and Singapore, are expected to keep the national energy supply stable.