NRL in Assam to supply 180,000 tonnes of diesel to Bangladesh

Guwahati: Bangladesh has cleared the purchase of 1.8 lakh tonnes of diesel from Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) by December this year, reinforcing cross-border energy trade with India’s Northeast.

The approval came from Bangladesh’s Advisory Committee on Government Purchase at a meeting held in Dhaka on January 6, chaired by Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed. The state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import the fuel, with payments to be made partly through direct settlement and partly through bank financing.

Officials aware of the transaction said the import cost was finalised after negotiations with NRL, a subsidiary of Oil India Limited. The deal has been valued at 14.62 billion Taka, or about $119.13 million, calculated at a premium of $5.50 per barrel over a base price of $83.22 per barrel. The final amount will vary depending on prevailing international oil prices.

Bangladesh’s Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan told reporters that the import is being executed under a 15-year long-term supply agreement signed during the previous government’s tenure.

NRL operates its refinery at Numaligarh in Assam. The diesel will be transported from the refinery to Siliguri in West Bengal and supplied to Bangladesh through the Bangladesh–India Friendship Pipeline, which became operational in December 2022.