Another 1 lakh tonnes of UAE crude en route for Eastern Refinery

An oil tanker, MT Fossil, carrying 1,00,000 tonnes of crude oil for Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) in Chattogram, has departed from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is expected to arrive by 23 May.

"The vessel loaded the crude and set sail for Chattogram around 3am local time on Monday," said Commodore Mahmudul Malek, managing director of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC).

"We expect the vessel to reach the outer anchorage of Chattogram port within 10 to 11 days," he said.

According to the global ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic, the MT Fossil, carrying crude from Port of Fujairah in the UAE, was near the Ras Al Hadd coast in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday night.

Earlier, another oil tanker, MT Ninemia, carrying 1,00,000 tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Port, arrived in the country on 5 May, some two and a half months after supply was halted following the war in the Middle East.

The imported crude is now supporting full-scale operations at the country’s lone state-owned refinery while the latest shipment is expected to ensure uninterrupted production for at least the next three months, officials said.

The refinery’s main Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) had remained closed since 12 April due to a shortage of crude oil. After remaining shut for 25 days, oil refining resumed on 8 May. 

Another tanker, MT Nordic Pollux, loaded with 1,00,000 tonnes of crude, has remained stranded at Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura Port due to the conflict.

According to BPC data, Bangladesh currently consumes over 70 lakh tonnes of fuel oil annually, of which nearly 92% is imported by the state-run BPC while the remaining 8% comes from local sources.

Of the imported fuel, about 15 lakh tonnes of crude oil is refined annually at the ERL. The refinery is capable of processing two types of crude – Arabian Light from Saudi Arabia and Murban crude from the UAE.