Fuel overview

The petroleum sector is considered one of the most sensitive sectors of an economy. Macro- economic indicators are highly sensitive to the price of petroleum products. The oil and petroleum industry of Bangladesh is mostly under the control of Government. With a view to providing petroleum products to all consumers at equal price irrespective of transportation cost, the government established Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) by a presidential Ordinance in 1976. Presently BPC is composed of three oil marketing companies, two blending plants, one LPG bottling company and a refinery as its subsidiaries.

The production, processing, refining and marketing of petroleum products in the country is vested exclusively with the Government of Bangladesh as per the Bangladesh Petroleum Act, 1974. The Petroleum Act also specifies the authorities, functions and responsibilities of BPC including establishment of plants & infrastructure, building necessary facilities and their extensions for marketing of petroleum products; monitoring coordination of the subsidiary companies of BPC and any other functions and responsibilities as directed by the government. Intense competition has been prevailing in the lubricant market due to the presence of more than 50 market players along with the brands marketed by three state owned oil marketing companies. Marketing of petroleum products is responsibility of three oil marketing companies namely:

1. Padma Oil Company Ltd (POCL)
2. Jamuna Oil Company Ltd (JOCL)
3. Meghna Petroleum Ltd (MPL).

At present only about 30% of the market demand of the lubricant products are served by the three oil marketing companies. It is notable here that BPC has no price control on the lubricant’s products. The pricing structure is settled by the Government at ex-refinery level, depots level, and also at consumer level in different distances. The commission at each level of suppliers namely oil marketing companies, agents, dealers are also fixed by the Government. As per the requirement of the state, the Government of Bangladesh imports crude oil and refined oil, then the crude oil is refined through Eastern Refinery Ltd. (ERL), another subsidiary of BPC and distributed through its oil marketing companies. There exists some special arrangement among the three oil marketing companies with a few direct customers. Among the direct customer groups, there are some Government organizations (PDB, Bangladesh Railway, and Defence Service), autonomous body (Chattogram Port Authority, BIWTA, Bangladesh Ordnance Factory) and nationalized industries etc. The oil marketing companies are engaged in marketing of oil products and the income it earns is termed as ‘Margin’ that is fixed by and determined by the Government. Sales net of cost of goods sold (net earnings from petroleum products) is recorded in the financial statements as a form of net revenue rather than gross revenue.

Fuel storage and transportation

Present annual demand of petroleum products in the country is Approx. 3,300,000 tons. Total storage capacity of petroleum products in the country is 12,00,336 MTs, of which the storage capacity at Eastern Refinery Ltd is 5,04,560 MT. In the main installations of three oil-marketing companies of BPC the storage capacity is (Padma Oil Company Ltd-2,54,248 MTs, Jamuna Oil Company Ltd-1,84,794 MTs, Meghna Petroleum Ltd-2,15,275.

Other than Chattogram, oil companies have oil depots in different parts of the country, located at Godenail, Fatullah, Daulatpur, Bhairab, Chandpur, Baghabari, Balashi, Chilmari, Ashuganj, Rangpur, Dhaka, Barisal, Jhalokati, Sreemangal, Sylhet, Parbatipur, Rajshahi, Natore and Harian (Rajshahi).

From Chattogram, 82% of petroleum products are transported by river (coastal tanker), 6% by RAILWAY (Tank wagon or Box wagon), 10% by road (Tank lorry/truck) and 2% by other local means (boat, push cart or van etc).

There are 72 coastal tankers (850-1200 tons capacity each) for transportation of petroleum products from Chattogram to Godenail, Fatullah, Daulatpur, Barisal, Jhalokati, Chandpur, Ashuganj and Bhairab depots. There are 33 shallow Draft Tankers (400-450 tons capacity each) for transportation of products from Godenail or Fatullah to Baghabari, Chilmari, Balashi and Chandpur depots.

There are about 1,000 railway tank wagons (meter gauge and broad gauge). From Chattogram, products are dispatched to Sylhet, Sreemangal, Rangpur and Dhaka oil depots by rail through meter gauge railway. From Daulatpur products are dispatched to Natore, Parbatipur, Harian and Rajshahi depots by rail through broad gauge railway.

There are 759 filling stations, 37 consumer pumps, 1,480 agents/distributors, 1273 LPG (LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS) dealers and 305 Packed Point Dealers appointed by three oil-marketing companies in the country for retail trading. There are more than 6,000 tank Lorries owned by dealers/distributors for transportation of petroleum products from oil company depots to their selling points.

Item wise storing Capacity of 3 main players are shown in the following charts:

Sale of Petroleum Products during last 5 Years (Qty in MTs)

Some important points to note

For more information on government and fuel provider contact details, please see the following links:

4.1 Government Contact List

4.7 Fuel Providers Contact List here.

Information may also be found at: http://www.mytravelcost.com/petrol-prices/ which is updated monthly. 

Fuel pricing

As mostly all types of POL items are imported from different sources either as crude or finished product, the local price varies on the international market and Govt policies. Anyway, the present pricing of different Petroleum products is shown below (as on Oct 2019):

Seasonal variations 

There are seasonal variations as during monsoon demand is increased for irrigation in Northern and Southern part.

Fuel transportation

After procuring petroleum products, they are distributed to different destinations all over the country. Petroleum products are mainly distributed by 3 modes of transportation. Due to higher capacity and cost effectiveness water way is the best choice. Padma, Meghna and Jamuna all these 3 companies use almost 90% of their product by river.

Disclaimer: Inclusion of company information in the LCA does not imply any business relationship between the supplier and WFP / Logistics Cluster, and is used solely as a determinant of services, and capacities.

Please note: WFP / Logistics Cluster maintain complete impartiality and are not in a position to endorse, comment on any company's suitability as a reputable service provider.