Bangladesh has sought safe passage for its vessels with energy items through the Strait of Hormuz from Iran now at war with the United States and Israel.
Energy, power and mineral resources minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said that they were expecting a positive reply from Tehran soon in this regard.
Until Thursday, Iran was yet to give any reply, he added.
Earlier, Dhaka was assured of the safe passage at a meeting on Monday when Iranian ambassador in Dhaka Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi made a courtesy call on Iqbal Hasan Mahmud at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka.
The Strait, a 33-kilometre narrow water passage between Iran and Oman responsible for one-fifth of the global energy supply, has become the flashpoint of the growing escalation in the Gulf region.
The joint-strike by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28 and retaliation by Tehran on Israel and the US interests in the Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar over the past 12 days made the Strait dangerous.
On March 2, Tehran announced the closure of the Strait, a move that has driven up shipping and insurance costs and pushed global oil prices higher (about $100 per barrel), raising concerns over potential economic repercussions worldwide.
On Thursday, over 130 container ships and hundreds of tankers were stranded or delayed west of the Strait of Hormuz due to rising tensions and security risks.
All 32 of the International Energy Agency’s members have agreed to release 400 million barrels of fuel oils to meet the shortage of the items amid closure of refineries in the Gulf due to the war.
Bangladesh, which imports about 62 lakh tonnes of crude and refined petroleum products, relies heavily on the Strait directly and indirectly.
It imports about 10 lakh tonnes of crude oils from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while 52 lakh tonnes of refined petroleum oils from China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
On Wednesday, finance and planning minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury sought a temporary waiver from the United States to buy fuel oil from Russia when the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Brent T Christensen, paid him a courtesy visit.
The US had given India a temporary waiver to buy fuel oil from Russia for a month.
Bangladesh has already introduced fuel oil rationing in the wake of the war.
On Thursday, state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation had directed its marketing companies to keep fuel depots open on weekly and public holidays for maintaining uninterrupted fuel supply across the country.
In a press release issued on the day, the state-owned corporation said the decision was made to stabilise the supply system amid rising demand for fuel oil in different parts of Bangladesh.
Under the new arrangement, fuel depots and main installations will remain open on Fridays and Saturdays until further notice along with other days of the week, allowing non-stop distribution of petroleum products to filling stations and other users.
The companies operating under BPC include Eastern Refinery Limited, Padma Oil Company Limited, Meghna Petroleum Limited, Jamuna Oil Company Limited, Eastern Lubricants Blenders PLC, LP Gas Limited, Standard Asiatic Oil Company Limited and Petroleum Transmission Company PLC.
