Oil companies to get Tk0.55 per litre of marine fuel
The BPC’s price order came eight days after the arrival of 15,000 tonnes of environmentally-friendly fuel containing 0.5% sulphur
Three state-owned oil companies will get Tk0.55 in margin against the sale of each litre of low-sulphur furnace oil to foreign or local ships plying Bangladesh's waters – at the Chattogram and Mongla ports.
Meanwhile, the bunker suppliers will receive Tk0.50 per litre to transport the fuel to the oceangoing ships.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the government agency to import, distribute and sell oil and petroleum products, Wednesday set the margin.
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It also set the excise duty-free price of marine fuel at $376 per tonne.
The BPC's price order came eight days after the arrival of 15,000 tonnes of environmentally-friendly fuel containing 0.5% sulphur, as per the instructions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Mir Saifullah-Al-Khaled, managing director of state-owned Meghna Petroleum Limited, told The Business Standard that the sale's margin will remain unchanged while the fuel price will be adjusted by the BPC according to the international rate.
"We will sell the fuel to the bunker suppliers at the BPC-fixed rate. Later, they will sell it to oceangoing ships after adding their charge," he said.
An office order sent to the Chattogram Sea Port and Mongla Sea Port Authorities reads that the bunker suppliers and oil sellers will strictly follow the bunking policy in supplying fuel to domestic and foreign flag carriers plying the waters of Bangladesh.
Currently, there are nine bunker providers approved by the BPC board.
Six years ago, the IMO directed its member states to start using low-sulphur fuel, and the instruction came into effect in January 2020.
In its 2019 guidelines, the IMO recommended ships not carry fuel containing more than 0.5% sulphur in order to reduce marine pollution.
Before the new guidelines were written up, ships all over the world, including 35 in Bangladesh, used furnace oil with 3.5% sulphur content.
So far, 95% of shipping companies worldwide have already switched to low-sulphur fuel to comply with the IMO's environmentally-friendly recommendation.
