STAR BUSINESS REPORT

The government yesterday revised the budget for the Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with the Double Line Project for the third time, increasing it by more than 8.5 per cent.

The cost of the project increased by 44 per cent from the original budget due to delays in securing loans, additional work for shifting the already installed underwater pipeline to a deeper position than what it was in the original design, increase of foreign currency rate, and other reasons.

The original cost of the project was Tk 4,935.97 crore while in the first revision, it was raised to Tk 5,426.27 crore. In the second revision, the cost increased to Tk 6,568.27 crore.

The third revision yesterday took the cost to Tk 7,124.62 crore.

The third revision of the project was approved at a meeting of the Ecnec yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting through video conferencing from Gono Bhaban.

The new deadline is now set at June 30, 2023, which was earlier set at June 30, 2022 after the second revision of the tenure.

The SPM will be able to unload 120,000 tonnes of crude oil from tankers in 48 hours and 70,000 tonnes of diesel in 28 hours.

The project aims to ensure the unloading of imported crude oil and finished products with ease, safely, at a low cost and within a short time, reducing system losses and cost experienced in the existing lighterage operation of the imported crude oil and finished products, according to project documents.

Under the project, three oil depots for crude oil and three storage tank farms for diesel will be set up at Moheshkhali to ensure energy security of the country by enhancing its capacity to stock and store petroleum oil.

The project will establish a SPM and Pipeline End Manifold, set up a total of 220 kilometres of offshore and onshore pipelines, tanks and farms at Moheshkhali as well as carry out land acquisition and offer compensation.

The project was originally undertaken in 2012 while the original deadline was December 2018. But so far, only 57.99 per cent of the estimated budget has been spent till October last year.

Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL) is the implementing agency of the project on behalf of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) with financing from Exim Bank of China.