Fuel sales drop by 34% after record price hike
Light and moderate vehicles rush to CNG usage
Sales of liquid fuel in the country registered a massive drop following the latest record fuel price hike of a maximum 51%.
Sales of liquid fuel dropped to a maximum of 34.10% till 10 August compared to the first day of this month.
Following the fuel price hike on 5 August, consumers are now shifting from liquid fuel to compressed natural gas (CNG) and auto gas.
The CNG and auto filling stations are now facing increasing vehicle pressure at the stations as more opt to switch to CNG from diesel and octane.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
It now costs almost one-and-a-half times more to use diesel, octane and petrol to cover the same distance as a vehicle using CNG.
Use of diesel oil, which is the most consumed petroleum product in the country being used by buses, goods-laden trucks, trains and waterways, has dropped by 16.02%.
Talking with petrol pump and CNG filling stations owners, it was learnt that they are seeing less demand for the diesel, petrol and octane, as people turn to CNG.
Kazi Raj Kader, manager at the All in One Ltd, which has a CNG filling station at Tejgaon and a petrol pump at Mohakhali, said they have noticed around 20% to 30% drop in diesel sales despite being right in front of the Mohakhali bus terminal from where inter-districts buses move.
"We are seeing huge pressure in our CNG filling stations since the fuel price adjustment. Cars and microbuses that used to run on diesel are now using CNG," he said.
As per data from the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, on the first day of August, total sales of diesel was 18,837 tonnes, which dropped to 15,819 tonnes on 10 August.
Sales of furnace oil, which is being used to generate electricity, has seen a record 34.10% fall while petrol, used by motorcycles and cars, has seen sales fall by 26.49% since the price hike.
On 1 August, sales of furnace oil was 4,109 tonnes, before falling to 2,708 tonnes, while petrol sales dropped from 1,846 tonnes to 1,357 tonnes.
Octane sales also sustained a 10.79% drop during the time.
Farhan Noor, general secretary of the Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association, told The Business Standard that the dual-fuel vehicles used to digest 60% gas as fuel before the oil price hike.
"But now they are using around 75% gas to run the vehicles. For the rest of the fuel they depend on liquid fuel as gas is not available in all corners of the country," he said.
Numan Ahmed Taffader, general manager (Marketing) of the Padma Oil Company Limited, told The Business Standard that fuel demand dampened soon after the price adjustment order.
"However, the consumption is now almost back to the previous level with a slight decrease," he said.
