BPC to make Tk1,140cr annual profit

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will make around Tk 1,140 crore in annual profit due to the recent fuel price hike despite the corporation witnessed a Tk 727 crore loss in October, according to a financial analysis of the BPC.

According to the BPC, country’s annual demand of diesel is 40.23 lakh tonnes which implies monthly demands of 3,35,250 tonnes. After the price hike, per liter diesel was sold at Tk 80 on Thursday. Until Wednesday per liter diesel was available at only Tk 65 which caused Tk 13.1 loss to the state-owned company.

To escape the losses, BPC could have fixed Tk 78.1 for per liter diesel but the government is currently selling per liter at Tk 80 that offers Tk1.99 in profit for per liter and Tk 5,635 against per ton. Thus profit will hit Tk 94.94 crore per month.

Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, in a circular on Wednesday said that BPC was counting losses of Tk 13.1 for per liter of diesel and Tk 6.21 for per liter of furnace oil, causing approximately Tk 20 crore losses per day. Price of kerosene oil was also hiked although it had been profitable.

Sources of BPC said, sellers normally adulterate, if the price of kerosene goes below the diesel prices, so the government decided to keep the kerosene price similar to diesel.

Md Anisur Rahman, Senior Secretary of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry told The Business Post that “The fuel prices were hiked due to the price rise in the global market. There was no alternative to the price adjustment as the prices may rise further.”

Diesel meets more than 73 per cent of country’s total fuel demand. Diesel is used in transports, water vassals, agricultural irrigation pumps and different power stations. According to the latest data, BPC annually sells 55.3 lakh metric tonnes of fuel oil. Of the total, 40.23 lakh tonnes are diesel.

The ministry in a statement said that fuel prices have been adjusted in line with the action by neighbouring countries as prices of oil rose in the international market.

As per the law, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) was supposed to fix the prices of all petroleum goods but the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has been doing it while Finance Ministry plays important role in this regard.