B Mirror Report: The government has approved the import of 1.4 million metric tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in 2027 for processing at Eastern Refinery PLC (ERPLC).

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import the crude oil from Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) under government-to-government (G2G) arrangements.

The policy approval was given at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held at the Secretariat on Wednesday (October 7), chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

Based on a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, the committee approved in principle the import of crude oil from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC through the direct procurement method (DPM). The import will be financed through a loan from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

BPC has long been importing crude oil from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC under G2G agreements for processing at Eastern Refinery.

The meeting was informed that Arabian Light crude oil and Murban crude oil are relatively more suitable and economically viable for processing at ERPLC’s existing plant. There is also no guarantee that these grades of crude oil can be sourced from other countries or suppliers according to the country’s requirements.

Considering the urgent national need and public interest, the proposal was made to import the crude oil through DPM under Section 68(1) of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006 and Rule 107(2) of the Public Procurement Rules (PPR) 2025.

Meanwhile, the committee recommended in principle another proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division for the direct import of refined petroleum products under G2G arrangements from January to December 2027.

The committee also approved a proposal to shorten the timeframe for preparing and submitting tenders for BPC’s import of refined petroleum products through international open tender for the January-June 2027 period.

Under the new decision, the tender preparation and submission period has been reduced to 21 days from 42 days. According to the relevant authorities, the shorter timeframe will enable the import process for refined petroleum products to be completed more quickly when required.