Bangladesh to buy gasoil from Turkey in 2015

DHAKA - Reuters

Bangladesh will start to buy gasoil from the Turkish Petroleum International Company in 2015 for the first time to meet its growing demand for fuel.

Turkish Petroleum International Company is to supply Bangladesh with 60,000 tons of gasoil in 2015 for the first time to meet the growing demand for fuel in the country, the chairman of the state Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) said Dec. 7.

Last month, BPC concluded negotiations on imports of oil products during the first half of 2015 with 10 companies, including Turkish Petroleum.

The Turkish company will supply 60,000 tons of gasoil with 500 parts-per-million (ppm), BPC Chairman Mohammad Eunusur Rahman told Reuters.

Premiums for gasoil with 500 ppm were fixed at $4.60 a barrel over Middle East quotes, as the country aims to lower the sulphur content of its gasoil imports from January 2015, in line with a global move towards cleaner fuel.

The BPC finalized its gasoil with 2,500 ppm sulphur contract for January-June period at a premium of $4.50 per barrel over Middle East quotes, down from $4.80 per barrel for the second half of 2014.
The BPC plans to import 2.5 million tons of gasoil in 2015.

A shortage of natural gas has forced the South Asian country to turn to costly oil-fired power plants.
The BPC’s 33,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Chittagong meets about 30 percent of the country’s fuel oil needs.

Bangladesh buys fuel oil from a number of national oil companies, including Malaysia’s Petronas, Philippines National Oil Co (PNOC), Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC), Vietnam’s Petrolimex, and also from Unipec.