Bangladesh to build pipeline to import oil products from India

State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) plans to build Bangladesh’s first oil import pipeline in co-operation with India’s state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL). The pipeline would ship an initial 300,000 tons a year of refined petroleum products, which could potentially be increased to 1 million tons a year within four years. The pipeline will run from BPCL’s Numaligarh refinery in India’s northeastern Assam state to oil storage tanks in Bangladesh.
The deal has yet to be signed but it is anticipated that BPC will commence imports within the next two years. India’s BPCL has a 61.5% stake in the 60,000 barrel per day Numaligarh refinery, which is located near India’s border with northeastern Bangladesh. Oil India Limited owns 26% of the refinery and the Assam state government holds 12.35%.
As part of the project, the two state-owned energy companies plan to build a 150- kilometer pipeline connecting the plant to BPC’s oil storage facility at Parbatipur in Dinajpur district, one of Bangladesh’s largest crude depots with a storage capacity of more than 10,000 tons. Future plans include increasing storage capacity to 15,000 tons. BPC currently has deals in place until December 2013 to import refined oil products from companies all over the world.
If successfully implemented, the pipeline could help Bangladesh reduce its oil imports. Given the proximity of the Indian refinery to the storage tanks in Bangladesh, the pipeline would also save on transportation costs. For BPC, importing mainly gasoil from the Numaligarh refinery means that it could also address growing demand by operating gasoil-run irrigation pumps in Bangladesh.(February 14, 2013)