Russian crude sample reaches Eastern Refinery

A sample of Russian crude oil reached the country’s only fuel oil refinery Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) in Chattogram on Thursday afternoon.

It will take at least a week to know if this crude oil can be refined or not, said ERL officials.

Earlier, the 50-litre sample of Russian crude oil arrived at the Chattogram Port on August 24. It took seven days to complete the formalities at the port, and finally, the sample was released yesterday.

ERL Managing Director Lokman Hossain said, “We have received the sample shipment of Russian crude oil. Now, it will be tested in our laboratories to know the effectiveness within one week.”

“We usually refine Middle Eastern crude oil. We have not refined any Russian crude oil so far. So, we need to check whether it can be refined in our plant,” he added.

According to ERL sources, it will take a week to know whether the sample can be refined, because before refining crude oil at the plant, the ratio of sulfur and other metal levels, water content, and oil concentration in crude oil has to be determined in the laboratory.

In a bid to tackle the impact of sanctions imposed by the western countries after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last, Russian has offered many countries, including Bangladesh, to sell fuel oil on easy terms.

According to the source of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), Russia was initially informed that it is not possible to refine Russian crude oil in Bangladeshi refinery. But, later BPC agreed to a Russian proposal to check whether it is possible to refine by ERL at all.

A top BPC official told The Business Post that Russian oil would be imported if it is offered at a relatively low price and if the refining cost is comparatively less.

The BPC currently imports refined fuels from eight countries — Kuwait, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and India. And crude oil is imported from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The ERL is capable of refining 1.5 lakh tonnes of fuel oil annually, which is a quarter of the country’s total demand.

Mentionable, India and China are major buyers of Russian fuel oil.