ASIFUR RAHMAN

Based on private electricity producers’ request, the Power Development Board (PDB) asked Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to nearly triple its import of furnace oil to around 500,000 tonnes a month so that the electricity demand in the summer can be met.

The PDB, however, took just 70,000 tonnes of furnace oil in March, the highest intake this year, straining BPC’s storage facilities with more consignments coming in soon.

For their unwillingness to take furnace oil from BPC, the private power plants have flagged quality concerns and a lack of options to delay payments.

A backlog of undischarged fuel from incoming vessels creates the risk of costly delay fees. If vessels are forced to wait, BPC may have to pay the penalties, which are ultimately borne by PDB.

Moreover, the state-owned Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), which produces about 1,100 tonnes of furnace oil daily, is facing shutdown as distribution companies are not collecting the furnace oil, BPC warned the Energy and Mineral Resources Division in a letter on Tuesday.

BPC was able to discharge 35,428 tonnes this month, as of April 22.

“We don’t have any storage capacity left after receiving the last consignment on April 18,” BPC wrote in the letter seen by The Daily Star.

“We have four more consignments scheduled through late April and May. If the power plants don’t take the furnace oil in time, we will To

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