Chittagong Correspondent:

Amid the octane crisis and concerns over supply in the country, two fuel tankers have arrived at the Chittagong port. One of them carries 26,000 tons of octane and the other 25,000 tons of furnace oil.
Port sources said that the oil tanker 'MT Central Star' carrying 26,000 tons of octane from Malaysia reached the Bravo anchorage of the outer anchorage of the Chittagong port at around 8:30 pm on Wednesday (April 8).

The ship is scheduled to dock at the Dolphin Jetty in Patenga on Thursday (April 9). The octane will be unloaded there. Md. Nazrul Islam, Managing Partner of Pride Shipping Lines, the ship's local agent, confirmed the matter and said, 'MT Central Star has already reached the outer anchorage of the port. The ship carries 26,000 tons of octane. It is scheduled to berth on Thursday.

At the same time, another ship named 'MT Eastern Queens' carrying 25,000 tons of furnace oil is also at the Charlie Anchorage of the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port, said Syed Refaet Hamim, Secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority.

Those concerned said that due to the ongoing war situation in the Middle East, there has been uncertainty about global energy supply. In this situation, Bangladesh is emphasizing on importing refined energy from alternative sources.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) sources said that the country has an average annual demand of 6.5 to 6.8 million tons of fuel oil. Of this, about 20 percent of crude oil is imported from Middle Eastern countries. The rest of the fuel oil comes in refined form from various countries including Singapore, China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to BPC, there is a demand for about 400,000 tons of diesel in the country in the current April. Import activities have been intensified to meet this demand and there are plans to import another 3.12 million tons of diesel this month.

According to the Chittagong Port Authority, a total of 33 ships carrying fuel oil and gas arrived at the port in March. Of these, 15 ships brought various types of fuel oil, eight LNG (liquefied natural gas) and nine LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Meanwhile, the port secretary said that five more ships are likely to arrive at the Chittagong port from different countries by the 15th of this month.

Port Authority Secretary Syed Refayet Hamim said that priority is being given to the berthing of fuel ships to keep the country's fuel supply normal. Oil and gas have already been unloaded from a few ships and several more ships are in the pipeline.

Energy sector stakeholders say that diversifying the fuel supply system is the need of the hour amid global instability. Otherwise, energy security may be at risk in the long term.