State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has imported low-sulphur fuel oil to ensure a cleaner environment. Already the first consignment with 15,000 metric tonnes of environment-friendly low-sulphur fuel arrived in Chittagong on Monday.
BPC chairman Md Shamsur Rahman told Bangladesh Post “As per the International Maritime Organisation guideline, we will import fuel oil with 0.5 per cent sulphur instead of 3.5 per cent. Our target is to import 75,000 metric tonnes of low-sulphur fuel this year. Of these, some 15,000 metric tonnes fuel have already been imported. It will save the environment from pollution, although the cost will be higher.”
The BPC as the only importer brings in 4.0 million tonnes of gasoil annually. The government has restricted import of this fuel by the private sector.
The BPC will have to count an extra Tk 443.60 million, or $5.28 million, to import sulphur gasoil with an additional premium of $0.40 per barrel.
According to BPC, the use of this low-sulphur fuel oil emits less carbon, which maintains the balance in the environment and reduces pollution. Due to better quality, suppliers are setting higher fuel oil premiums (shipping and insurance on shipping). In that case, the ship fare has also been increased.
Six years ago, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) issued guidelines to member states to use 0.5% sulphur-containing fuels to reduce pollution.
Before the introduction of the new guideline, ships all over the world, including Bangladesh, used furnace oil containing 3.5% sulphur content.
BPC sources said, foreign ships did not collect oil from Bangladesh due to the high sulfur content in the furnace oil. Instead, sea-going ships carried oil from either Singapore or Colombo, Sri Lanka. Now BPC will sell furnace oil to sea-going ships.
It is known that about four thousand domestic and foreign ships pass through the seaports of the country every year. Most of these want to take fuel oil from Bangladesh or do bunking when they leave the port. But as BPC could not supply, these ships had to come to Bangladesh with extra oil from abroad.