Around 80 employees of state-owned LP Gas Limited and RPGCL have no work due to the shutdown of the Kailash Tila LPG plant in Sylhet district.
However, around taka 8 crore is being spent every month on salaries, allowances and other official expenditures.
In the last four months, the government has lost about taka 32 crore. Besides, around 400 barrels of NGL is being burned per day, which also includes financial and environmental losses. However, no one knows whether the plant will start.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has stopped purchasing fuel (petrol) from Sylhet Gas Fields Limited from September 1 to implement the High Court's directive following a writ petition. The reason given is that the fuel of Sylhet Gas Fields Limited is not produced as per standards of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).
According to international standards, that fuel will be considered octane, with at least 95 percent octane molecules. Petrol must contain at least 89 percent octane particles. However, the octane supplied in the country's market has less than 90 percent octane molecules and less than 80 percent octane molecules in petrol.
Since BPC is not purchasing oil for more than 4 months, production of 12 fractionation plants in the country including Sylhet gas field has been stopped.
Besides, the NGL fractionation plant of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited is closed. For this reason, around 400 barrels of high quality NGL (Natural Gas Liquid) being extracted from Kailastila gas field is being destroyed through burning every day. As a result, Sylhet Gas Field Limited (SGFL) an NGL manufacturing company is suffering; On the other hand, the officials and employees of RPGCL and LP gas companies are worried as the plant is closed.
The concerned people are also worried about whether this situation is being created to leave the fuel oil business to the private sector and take RPGCL and LPG plants under private management.
Md. Fazlur Rahman Khan, Managing Director of LP Gas Limited told Bangladesh Post, “some 33 employees are working in the Kailash Tila LPG plant. They are passing idle time. But around 1.5 lakh taka is being spent per day for their salaries and allowances, along with around 1.5 lakh taka for other official expenditures. Besides, we are also losing our buyers, which is also a big negative impact in the market for the future.
‘The company is suffering financial loss every year. If this situation continues, the operating loss will increase and the company will have to face big problems. We have already informed our ministry about the matter. We don’t know when the problem will be solved,’ he added.
He also said “currently we have only two LPG plants. One is in Chattogram and another is in Kailash Tila. There are sufficient employees in Chattogram. So we cannot use the idle manpower there. It’s a big problem for us. We have already discussed the issue with the Energy Division. They instructed us to set up a large LPG plant in Chattogram and also build a LPG cylinder manufacturing plant in Tangail. However it will take time to implement.”
An official of RPGCL said around 1.5 crore taka is spent per month for employees salaries, allowances and other official expenditure for NGL fractionation plant. But there is no work, no production. So it is a big loss for the company.
According to multiple sources, Sylhet Gas Fields Limited has been selected as the highest taxpayer in the government organization category for the past few years. However, in the last few months, the company's operating expenses have to be managed from fixed deposits.
Professor M Shamsul Alam, energy advisor of Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) said “It is the responsibility of the government to preserve, improve and control the quality of oil in government institutions. But as the Energy Division stopped buying fuel without doing so, there is a hint of a big conspiracy. With this decision, the Energy Division has revealed their failure.”