Notwithstanding the government's repeated assurances that there are sufficient reserves of fuel oils in the country, queues at the filling stations are getting longer. Evidently, it is the ongoing war in the Middle East, which is the main source of Bangladesh's imported energy-both oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-that is behind the public's fear of supply crunch. Hence is this mad race for buying oil at the filling stations.  Moreover, rationing of fuel oils introduced at the filling stations has added to the consumer public's woes. However, worst hit amidst this race for collecting fuel oil are the boro farmers who are reportedly not able to collect diesel in containers from the filling stations as the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC)'s directive about oil rationing does not say anything about the boro farmers' need for  diesel, which  they use to run their irrigation pumps. Clearly, the priorities of the energy ministry, or  of the BPC for that matter, have failed to include the requirement of diesel for the country's irrigation pumps. Also, erratic and irregular power supply in the rural areas has increased the farmers' dependence on diesel. 

According to Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) data, between 2017 and 2019, approximately 1.24 million to 1.36 million diesel-run shallow tube-wells (STWs) were in operation in the country. Needless to say, the numbers of those STWs have multiplied since.  In the peak season of boro, 80 per cent of these irrigation pumps are used and they consume about10 million litres of diesel per day. So, the boro farmers, who have irrigation pumps, would naturally like to know what arrangements the government has in place for them and, if there is any, how and where would they collect it (diesel) from? According to a report in this paper, boro farmers from the northern regions including, for instance, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and Bogura, are in desperate need of diesel for their STWs to irrigate rice fields and avoid crop failure.  In that case, the government would be required to issue urgent instructions to the filling stations or take whatever other steps are necessary to meet the diesel need of the boro farmers' irrigation pumps before it is too late, especially in this peak period of the season. But the requirement of diesel is not just for the STWs of boro fields. In fact, the entire public transport sector is dependent on diesel as the main fuel. So, to meet all the needs, Bangladesh has to procure about 4.35 million tons of diesel per year, according to FY2025-26 records. 

 The lion's share of the requirement is met from imports.  So, though the government's assurances of fuel oil sufficiency is based on current stocks, that does not offer any solution to the nation's long-term needs for oil and other forms of energy.  The  reason is that the country's sources of energy lie abroad. Obviously, the consumers are eager to know about the long-term strategy of the government on energy procurement that include both oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Since there is no indication of the war in the Middle East ending any time soon, the uncertainty over bulk energy import from that region will remain. 

Now, the question of energy is not purely about oil; natural gas is also a major part of it. Notably, five out of the six state-run fertilizer plants had to be shut down recently due to critical gas shortage. Here again, Middle Eastern LNG plays a critical role as supply from domestic gas fields is dwindling. So, handling the energy issue, on which thrives the entire industry, transport and food security, with acumen at such critical times is going to be the acid test of the new government. Given the urgency of the moment the government would be required to act fast.