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The country has sufficient octane stocks to meet the domestic demand for at least two and a half months, said state minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) Aninda Islam Amit.
“With the existing octane stock, we shall be able to meet domestic demand until June,” he said, while talking to The Financial Express on Thursday.
He urged the consumers for not going mad or panic buying of petroleum products including octane.
When contacted, a senior official of state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) echoed the similar view.
He said, despite having sufficient octane stocks, long queues in from of petrol pumps are still visible as most of the consumers are keeping stock of octane after daily purchases.
Octane is usually consumed in motor bikes and high-valued cars like sports utility vehicles (SUVs), said the official.
Octane stocking trend of motorcyclists and SUV owners in connivance with some unscrupulous petrol pump workers is deteriorating the situation further, market insiders said.
According to the BPC official apart from the current octane stocks, a cargo vessel carrying around 27,000 tonne of octane will reach Chattogram today (Friday) and another vessel carrying around 25,000 tonne will reach the same port by May 3.
One cargo carrying around 26,000 tonne octane reached Chattogram last week on April 9, he said.
Market insiders said, the country requires around 1,100 tonne of octane daily to feed the domestic demand, most of which comes from local sources.
State-run Kailashtila condensate fractionation plant produces significant volume of octane using condensate, a liquid byproduct from local gas fields.
Several privately owned petrochemical companies also produces octane using locally sourced condensate and naphtha.
Privately owned companies including Super Petrochemical, Aqua Petrochemical, Petromax and Partex Petro Ltd gets most of their condensate from local gas fields and naphtha from the Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL).
The private octane producers have ramped up octane production from last week to meet the country’s demand amid panic buying of consumers, they said.
The BPC also imports a portion of required octane from global suppliers, said the BPC official.
Apart from octane, the country also has ample reserves of diesel, petrol, octane and jet fuel, said the MPEMR state minister.
Although the country’s maiden crude oil refinery – ERL – is running at lower capacity, it will initiate full scale operation after a couple of weeks, said Mr Amit.
The BPC has ramped up import of refined petroleum products from different sources as back up to meet the domestic fuel demand, the state minister added.