Bangladesh Oil, Gas, and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) annually import fuel from various countries to meet the country's energy demands. Petrobangla, in particular, imports liquefied natural gas (LNG) to alleviate the gas crisis.
Although Petrobangla has been importing LNG since the fiscal year 2017-18, the government-owned national gas company has not paid any customs duties on gas imports for the past three years. As a result, Chattogram Customs House (CCH) now has unpaid dues totalling Tk 14,713.51 crore. Despite multiple letters from CCH, Petrobangla has failed to respond or settle the outstanding amount.
Meanwhile, BPC, the sole supplier of fuel oil in the domestic market, has also ignored its dues to CCH, despite being profitable. BPC’s subsidiaries—Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Eastern Refinery, and Standard Asiatic Oil—owe a total of Tk 2,067.69 crore in customs duties on imported diesel, octane, petrol, and other fuels.
CCH is owed Tk 808.54 crore in outstanding customs duties from Meghna Petroleum Limited, Tk 633.19 crore from Padma Oil Company Limited and Tk 447.87 crore from Jamuna Oil Company Ltd. Additionally, Eastern Refinery Limited has outstanding dues of Tk 171.84 crore, while Standard Asiatic Oil Company Limited owes Tk 6.25 crore. Despite making profits from the sale of fuel oil, these companies have not settled their dues with customs.
BPC remains the sole supplier of fuel oil in the domestic market, selling approximately 7.5 million tonnes of fuel products annually, all of which are imported and marketed through its subsidiaries. Meanwhile, Petrobangla imported 12.45 million tonnes of LNG between the fiscal years 2017-18 and 2023-24, with an import value of Tk 43,966 crore.
Although Petrobangla made some initial payments, CCH has been owed dues since July 2021. As of July this year, Petrobangla's outstanding dues have accumulated to Tk 14,713.51 crore.
Chattogram Customs House has repeatedly sent letters to Petrobangla's chairman, urging the settlement of outstanding dues. The dues include a total customs duty of 22 per cent on LNG imports, comprising VAT, advance tax, and advance VAT. Despite these reminders, Petrobangla has failed to make any progress in clearing the dues, marking this as the largest amount owed to CCH by a single entity.
Officials at CCH informed that importers must submit a bill of entry to the commissioner to complete the customs clearance process for imported goods. By law, importers are also required to pay the applicable duties; however, over the past three years, Petrobangla has bypassed these requirements. After importing LNG, the state-run agency supplied it directly to the national grid via pipelines from ships, without submitting a bill of entry, completing customs clearance, or paying the required duties.
Officials further explained that LNG has unique characteristics, requiring transport in specialised floating structures rather than containers that can be stored at ports. Consequently, the gas is delivered directly to the national grid from the floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) via pipelines.
Given Petrobangla's status as a government agency with national interests at stake, enforcement of legal action has been difficult, they added.
In this regard, CCH Commissioner Mohammad Fyzur Rahman told The Business Post, “During the fiscal year 2023-24, we collected Tk 68,866.54 crore in revenue, setting a record for the highest revenue collection to date.”
“However, we could not celebrate this achievement at the end of the fiscal year because BPC and Petrobangla still owe us Tk 16,781 crore. If they had cleared these dues, our revenue collection would have increased by 23 per cent, exceeding our target of Tk 74,204 crore,” he added.
Despite releasing shipments in the national interest while leaving the dues unpaid, Fyzur Rahman noted that CCH has repeatedly sent letters to Petrobangla, urging them to settle the outstanding amounts.
