The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation is now in trouble with a consignment of 10,900 metric tons of "substandard" jet fuel shipped from Kuwait and seeks government authorities' help for a rescue.

The country might face a shortage of jet fuel if the government does not take necessary steps to collect the fuel within a short time, says a BPC letter sent to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on July 20.

A vessel, MT AL-Kuwaititiyah, anchored at Chittagong seaport with the jet fuel (Jet A-1) along with 21,914 metric tons of diesel (Gasoil 0.25%S) on July 16.

The 21,914 mt diesel was unloaded from the vessel after completing all necessary activities. But the BPC declined to unload the jet fuel (Jet A-1) as inspections found out that the standard of the fuel is not up to the mark.

For the import of the diesel and jet fuel the BPC opened LC on June 24 with Janata Bank in Dhaka. The jet fuel was loaded on the vessel MT AL-Kuwaititiyah on July 2 while the diesel loaded on July 3 after completing an agreement with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).

As per the agreement between BPC and KPC, the prices of the diesel and the jet fuel have to be paid within 30 days of the bill of lading (BL).

But the prices of the diesel and jet fuel were not paid yet.

According to the letter, signed by BPC chairman Anwarul Karim, the corporation will not pay the price of the jet fuel as it did not unload the fuel, which is used for airplanes.

The BPC chairman in the letter to NBR stated that they would submit all necessary documents, including the no-objection certificate from Bangladesh Bank, to the authority concerned. Submitting these documents is a time-consuming matter.

"BPC will take the responsibility in the future if any complexities arise later on," the BPC chairman said.

The BPC already has informed the KPC about the matter and requested them to take back their jet fuel that was found substandard.

The chairman said that his organization has to pay US$ 20,000 per day as demurrage if the vessel MT AL-Kuwaititiyah makes delay in departing from the port.

Furthermore, crisis will arise for jet fuel (Jet A-1) if there be delay in finding another vessel with same kind of fuel, the BPC chairman said in his letter. "As a result, supply of fuel to different airlines will be disrupted."

According to the available sources, the demand for jet fuel in the country is on average 600 metric tons per day while the current reserve is not more than 12,000 metric tons.

Sources in BPC said that as the reserve is in the danger level, the BPC asked the state-run Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) to produce 300 metric tons of jet fuel a day.

In this situation, the BPC chairman urged the NBR to take urgent steps and provide directives to the commissioners deployed at Chittagong Customs House (Export and Import) to release the vessel MT AL-Kuwaititiyah for avoiding crisis of jet fuel in the country and help BPC avert demurrage.