Crude Oil Shipment Arrives in Bangladesh After Two-Month Gap, Refinery Set to Resume Operations

An oil tanker, MT Ninemeia, carrying around 100,000 tonnes of crude oil from Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia, is expected to reach Chattogram’s outer anchorage on Wednesday. Unloading operations will begin immediately after the vessel anchors.

The arrival of crude is expected to restart operations at Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), the country’s only state-owned oil refinery, which suspended production on April 12 due to a shortage of raw materials. Officials hope the refinery will resume operations by May 7 or shortly thereafter.

To ensure uninterrupted production, Bangladesh is also importing an additional 200,000 tonnes of crude oil, expected to arrive in May and June.

The disruption in supply stemmed from tensions in the Middle East that affected shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow route responsible for transporting about 20% of the world’s energy. Bangladesh’s last crude shipment arrived on February 18, after which imports were stalled due to the crisis.

A previous shipment carried by the tanker Nordic Pollux was stranded at Ras Tanura Port. Authorities later arranged an alternative route via Yanbu Port, from where MT Ninemeia departed on April 21.

According to Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Managing Director Mahmudul Malek, the tanker is expected to reach Kutubdia anchorage around 11 a.m., where crude oil will be offloaded through lightering (using smaller vessels) and transported to the refinery.

He added that two more large shipments are on the way. One is scheduled to be loaded onto the tanker MT Fossil at Fujairah Port in the United Arab Emirates around May 10, expected to arrive in Chattogram by May 20–21. Another 100,000-tonne shipment is being prepared at Yanbu Port later in May.

Officials at ERL have already begun preparations to restart operations. Deputy General Manager (Operations) Muhammad Mamunur Rashid Khan said the refinery could resume production once the crude reaches storage tanks.

Currently, three of the refinery’s four processing units are shut down due to the shortage. Once operational, ERL produces between 4,000 and 4,500 metric tonnes of fuel and by-products daily, with diesel accounting for about 45%.

Each year, the refinery processes around 1.5 million metric tonnes of crude oil, supplying slightly under 20% of Bangladesh’s total fuel demand.