Bangladesh to triple oil refining capacity

State-run Bangladesh Eastern Refinery Ltd. (ERL) will triple its oil refining capacity to reduce import costs and reliance on foreign countries for petroleum products, a senior official said. At a cost of more than US$1 billion, the refinery’s capacity will be raised to 4.5 million tons a year from 1.5 million tons, said Rezaul Alam, managing director of ERL. The expansion program will be done in two phases beginning from this year and take three years to complete. Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank will bear the cost of the first phase. In the second phases, Funding will come from Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other countries. (July 23, 2010)