The state run Eastern Refinery PLC will start operation activities of its main unit from early Friday as imported crude oil is being receiving at its storage tanks, official said.
‘We have decided to begin ERL’s main unit operation from early morning tomorrow [Friday],’ managing director of ERL Md Sharif Hasnat told BSS on Thursday.
The government, he said, imported 100,000 tonnes of crude oil from Yanbu port in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, which has been unloading from mother vessel and receiving to the ERL’s storage tanks.
‘We have a total of four units, which were usually operated for refining crude oil. Out of the four, one unit is in operation,’ Hasnat said.
The state-owned oil refinery, suspended its operations on April 14, 2026, due to a critical shortage of crude oil caused by supply disruptions in the Middle East, according to official information.
It said the shutdown resulted from a disruption in imports through the Strait of Hormuz due to regional conflicts, halting crude supply since February 28.
According to the information, the ERL was scheduled to resume operations on May 7–8, following the arrival of new crude oil shipments from Saudi Arabia.
A tanker, MT Ninemia, carrying 100,000 tonnes of crude from Saudi Arabia reached at the Kutubdia anchorage on May 4 night, with further shipments expected from the UAE to ensure sustained operations.
According to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, Bangladesh currently has a demand of about 7.2 million tonnes of fuel oil per year. Of this, the BPC has to import 92 per cent to meet the demand.
The remaining eight per cent is available from local sources. Of the supplied fuel, ERL refines 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil annually, supplying roughly 20 per cent of the nation’s total fuel demand.
According to BPC data, Bangladesh imports around 6.5 to 6.8 million tonnes of fuel annually, including significant volumes of diesel and crude oil. About 1.5 million tonnes of crude are imported from Middle Eastern countries and refined at ERL, which produces 16 types of petroleum products including LPG, petrol, octane, kerosene, diesel and furnace oil.
Besides, the country imports around 4.5 million tonnes of refined fuel annually from India and China.
