[🇧🇩] Energy Security of Bangladesh

[Saif]

Bangladesh has adequate fuel stocks for May, now focusing on June supply: state minister

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit says Bangladesh now holds the largest stock of refined fuel in its history, while assuring that demand in April and May can be fully met despite disruption to crude oil imports due to the conflict in the Middle East. Speaking

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh has adequate fuel stocks for May, now focusing on June supply: state minister

bdnews24.com
Published :
Apr 17, 2026 15:32
Updated :
Apr 17, 2026 19:48

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit says Bangladesh now holds the largest stock of refined fuel in its history, while assuring that demand in April and May can be fully met despite disruption to crude oil imports due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking while visiting the Easter Refinery Limited (ERL) in Chattogram’s Patenga on Friday, Amit said the government had already secured supplies to meet fuel demand over the next two months and was now working to prepare for June.

“I can say with full responsibility and with pride that something that has never happened in Bangladesh’s history has happened now -- we currently have the highest stock of refined fuel in the country’s history,” he said at the country's only state-owned oil refining facility.

Referring to international concern over fuel supplies, he said Bangladesh also had jet fuel reserves equivalent to six weeks of demand.

“Our fuel demand for April and May has already been secured and is in a confirmed supply line. Taking that into account, I can say the Bangladesh government has the full capacity to meet demand in April and May,” he said.

“Now that we have been able to ensure that, we are working mainly to meet the needs of June.”

The state minister said ERL refines around 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil a year on average, with most of its crude coming from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He said the scheduled crude shipments for January and February had arrived as planned, but import schedules for March and April were disrupted after the Middle East crisis began on Feb 28.

The government has also been trying to secure both refined fuel and crude oil from alternative sources, according to him.

He said one cargo had already been purchased, though the supplier failed to deliver it on time, and added that two more crude cargoes were now on standby.

“We expect one cargo ship to arrive in the latter half of this month."

He acknowledged that ERL’s production capacity had been affected for the time being, but said the government had increased imports of refined fuel to ensure supply was not disrupted even if the refinery could not run at full capacity.

Amit also said the current pause had created an opportunity to carry out long-overdue maintenance work at two units of the refinery.

As the ERL operates throughout the year, regular maintenance has become difficult, according to him.

“We are finishing the maintenance work during this period so that when crude oil arrives at the end of this month, we can run the Eastern Refinery at full capacity.”​

 

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Bangladesh gets 60-day US waiver to import Russian fuel oil

The United States has granted a 60-day waiver for Bangladesh to import refined fuel oil from Russia, now facing US sanctions.

www.newagebd.net

Bangladesh gets 60-day US waiver to import Russian fuel oil
Staff Correspondent 17 April, 2026, 20:39

Cars and motorcycles wait in long queues at a refuelling station in front of prime minister’s office at Tejgaon in Dhaka amid fuel crisis. | New Age photo

The United States has granted a 60-day waiver for Bangladesh to import refined fuel oil from Russia, now facing US sanctions.

The sanctions waiver that came into effect on April 11 will remain in force until June 11 against a request made from Dhaka in March, officials confirmed.

The development came after a series of negotiations between Dhaka and Washington amid shortage in gasoline supplies and spiralling energy prices in Bangladesh against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict across the Gulf states since February 28 with US and Israel’s joint attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes from Tehran.

The foreign ministry recently informed the Energy Division about the US sanctions waiver for Bangladesh to facilitate the procurement of 10 lakh tonnes of diesel from Russia as proposed by the Energy Division officials confirmed.

Bangladesh has already taken austerity measures to tackle the energy crisis as it heavily depends on fuel imports from traditional sources in Arab Gulf states while the movement of oil tankers through the Strait of Hornuz, a major waterway for energy supply to Aisa and Europe, has remained restricted following the outbreak of the Gulf war.

Bangladesh sought the sanctions waiver from the US, citing its challenges in the procurement of petroleums from traditional sources in the Gulf countries and rising prices of crude oil, according to the officials in Dhaka.

Meanwhile, lack of crude oil has forced the country’s lone oil refinery to suspend operations almost fully while the queues of vehicles at filling stations in Dhaka and elsewhere across the country are getting longer by the day.

The production at two major units of the Eastern Refinery Limited, Bangladesh’s only state-owned oil refinery, has been

halted due to a shortage of crude oil, according to officials.

The third unit is, however, running partially, producing an insignificant amount of petrol and octane, sokesperson for the Energy and Mineral Resources Division Monir Hossain Chowdhury confirmed.

The crisis stemmed from a lack of crude oil supply, worsened by disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict.

A crude oil shipment remains stuck in Saudi Arabia, leading to a depletion of existing stock since the beginning of the current month.

The Eastern Refinery usually processes around 4,500 tonnes of crude oil daily, producing about 13 types of fuel, including octane, petrol, diesel and furnace oil.

However, the output has already been reduced to around 3,500 tonnes per day over the past month due to the crude oil shortage.

Officials said that crude imports had remained suspended for nearly two months amid instability caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The next shipment is expected to arrive in the first week of May.

The refinery has a crude storage capacity of around 1,50,000 tonnes and can store up to 2,50,000 tonnes of refined fuel.​