Fuel oil reserves sufficient, more supplies coming: Energy division

The country has sufficient reserves of fuel oil, and more imports are coming, said Monir Hossain Chowdhury, joint secretary at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, on Monday.

There is no reason for people to get anxious about fuel oil supplies amid the Middle East conflict, he added while speaking at a briefing held at the Secretariat.

The country currently has 1.33 lakh tonnes of diesel, and 54,600 tonnes more are expected to be imported by Friday, he said. In the meantime, 7,000-tonne will be imported from India via pipeline.

In April, another 1.54 lakh-tonne fuel oil will be imported from China, Indonesia and Singapore.

Furthermore, works are ongoing to import six lakh tonnes of diesel for two months from Russia, amid a 30-day sanction waiver granted by the US authorities, said Monir.

Amid the supply fears sparked by the Iran war, authorities have so far imported 22,000-tonne diesel from India, and a deal to this end has been in effect.

Officials are working to import more from Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Angola, Australia and the US.

Iran has already permitted Bangladesh-flagged vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively controlled as a leverage in its war against the US-Israeli forces.

However, not all fuel imports bound for Bangladesh are carried by the country’s ships, and only this factor could cause some problems, Monir Hossain Chowdhury noted.

Officials are continuing talks with Iranian government to secure transit for all vessels carrying fuel imports for Bangladesh through the Strait of Hormuz. Hopefully, the talks will soon bring positive results, the joint secretary added.

In the meantime, as pre-emptive measures, the government is prioritising savings and austerity steps both at the individual and institutional levels.

The government has also directed the authorities concerned to prioritise the agriculture sector, and have instructed the agricultural officers and upazila nirbahi officers (UNO) to work to this end, the joint secretary said.