PNN News Desk. Dhaka
After a long wait, a large shipment of crude oil from Saudi Arabia has arrived at Kutubdia in Cox’s Bazar via the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel “MT Ninemia.” With this new supply, the state-owned Eastern Refinery PLC, which had been struggling due to raw material shortages, is preparing to resume full-scale production.
Production is expected to restart from Thursday afternoon, according to officials.
Deputy General Manager (Operations) of Eastern Refinery, Mamunur Rashid Khan, said the vessel carrying about 194,000 metric tons of crude oil has anchored at Kutubdia. If everything goes smoothly, production will begin after 5:00 pm.
He said that initially the refinery aims to produce around 3,500 tons of fuel per day. Production will be limited at first due to technical adjustments but will gradually increase.
Managing Director of Eastern Refinery, Md. Sharif Hasnat, said all preparations for unloading and processing the crude oil have been completed. If weather conditions remain favorable, all five units of the refinery will be fully operational from Thursday.
Sources said that after the deterioration of the Middle East situation in February, fuel transportation through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted. As a result, crude oil supply from the Persian Gulf region to Bangladesh remained suspended for a long time.
Due to supply shortages, Eastern Refinery had been operating in a limited capacity for the last one and a half months. Only a few units remained operational using remaining pipeline oil, reducing production from 13 types of fuel to only two products.
With the arrival of the new shipment, authorities expect fuel production and supply conditions to return to normal.
