Govt to import 16 lakh tonnes crude oil, 58.50 lakh tonnes refined oil

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved two separate proposals in principle for importing around 16 lakh tonnes of crude oil and 58.50 lakh tonnes of refined oil for 2022 to meet Bangladesh’s growing demand.

The approval came on Thursday from the 31st meeting of the CCEA, held virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair, reports BSS.

On the same day, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved separate proposals for importing some 90,000 tonnes of urea and 80,000 tonnes of high-sulfur furnace oil.

The approval came from the 37th meeting of the CCGP. Finance Minister Kamal chaired this meeting too.

Briefing reporters virtually, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin said the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation will import 80,000 tonnes of high-sulfur furnace oil from Unipec Singapore Pte Ltd for the November-December period of this year with around Tk 365.13 crore.

He said the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation will procure 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertiliser from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation with Tk 194.97 crore, another 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea from Fertiglobe Distribution Ltd, UAE for around Tk 194.97 crore, and 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea from Muntajat, Qatar with around Tk 197.79 crore.

Arefin said BCIC will import 10,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid from Agro Industrial Input, Dhaka with around Tk 61.46 crore.