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Published : 14 Apr 2026, 04:40 PM
Eastern Refinery Limited, Bangladesh’s only state-owned oil refining facility in Chattogram, is on the verge of halting production due to a severe crude oil shortage linked to disruptions from the war in the Middle East.
On Monday, a refinery official said processing activity moved into a critical phase in the afternoon as fresh crude supplies failed to arrive.
A senior official at the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, however, said: “It cannot be called fully shut. Operations are being maintained using dead stock.”
No new shipments of crude oil have arrived in the country since the flare-up between Iran, the US, and Israel.
The last vessel carrying crude reached the country on Feb 18, and the refinery has been subsisting on that supply until now.
Although a shipment of 100,000 tonnes from Saudi Arabia was scheduled to arrive at the Ras Tanura terminal on Mar 3, the cargo failed to reach Bangladeshi shores due to the conflict.
The government has since secured a loan deal to purchase an equivalent amount of crude from Saudi Aramco through alternative channels.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) officials expect this shipment to arrive next month.
Joint Secretary of the Energy Division Monir Hossain Chowdhury said the lack of arrivals since the start of the war has triggered the current crisis at Eastern Refinery.
He maintained that the institution remains operational using reserve stocks and argued that the nation is not solely dependent on its output.
“Imported refined oil meets our demand. There is currently no fuel shortage in the country,” the official added.
Eastern Refinery is a company under the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
Asked about the situation, BPC General Manager Md Morshed Hossain told bdnews24.com: “Production at ERL has not stopped. Two of the company’s five production units are closed. The remaining three are operational.”
He said that an average of 120 tonnes of petrol and 100 tonnes of diesel are being produced from these units daily. Production will continue for a few more days with the crude available at ERL.
However, Morshed noted that it cannot continue for long, saying: “This activity is being carried out with some crude oil and naphtha (a by-product of crude oil refining) in dead stock.”
In response to a question, he said, “Even if ERL is closed, the supply chain of fuel oil in the country will not be suspended.
“We are collecting refined oil from various sources. Two ships carrying diesel will arrive in port waters on Tuesday night. Two more ships will arrive later.”
