Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh is expected to import one lakh tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia through the Red Sea by the second week of May as Iran’s wartime blockade on the Strait of Hormuz pushes countries to find alternative trading routes.
Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) Managing Director Commodore Mahmudul Malek confirmed the new route plan to reporters highlighting the government’s success in finding an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz of the Persian Gulf.
However, new challenges could emerge as the Houthi group has threatened to block the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on the Red Sea in the event of a significant escalation of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the Yemeni group’s main backer.
Barring the potential escalations and the Houthi response, Bangladesh could receive two lakh tonnes of Saudi oil by the second week of May in a boost to the country’s fuel oil stocks.
The one lakh tonne would be loaded onto a tanker from the Saudi Yanbu Commercial Port, located on the Red Sea, on 20 April, BSC sources said.
Another tanker MT Nordic Pollux, carrying one lakh-tonne crude oil, is now lying stranded in the Persian Gulf awaiting an Iranian clearance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Together the two tankers are set to bring in two lakh tonnes of crude oil to the Chattogram port by the second week of May, said BSC sources. Afterwards, these would be refined at the Eastern Refinery Ltd facility at North Patenga, Chattogram.
Sources at the Eastern Refinery said, the crude oil will be processed to produce at least 52,000-tonne diesel, 32,000-tonne petrol, 16,000-tonne octane, 48,000-tonne furnace oil and 42,000-tonne kerosene.
