Imports of Russian oil, grain and gas don’t breach sanctions: Energy adviser

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s adviser for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, has said no embargo is applicable to import fuel oil, food grain and fertiliser from Russia which has been facing various trade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Like many other countries, Bangladesh is also facing an acute crisis of fuel oil and natural gas due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

To avert any controversy or consequences from the Western world by importing these three products, the Bangladesh government had formed a committee to look into the legal matters involving imports of Russian fuel oil, food grain and natural gas.

Chowdhury said anyone can import food grain and fertiliser from Russia to meet the local demand. He was addressing a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka on Wednesday.

He said, Rampal power plant will be inaugurated during Sheikh Hasina’s India trip in September but commercial operation of the plant will take time.

Hailing the government’s pronouncement to increase the fuel oil prices, the PM’s adviser said, “It was a wise decision.”

Meanwhile, the government announced to cut the prices of diesel, petrol and octane by Tk 5 per litre on August 29. With the new price structure, the diesel is now selling at Tk 109 per litre, octane Tk 130, petrol Tk 125, and kerosene at Tk 109 respectively.

Although the abrupt price hike of fuel oil enraged many people, Chowdhury said, “It would have been better to keep the fuel oil prices hiked as we did not know what the price would be in the future.”

During his US visit, Chowdhury talked to Jose W. Fernandez, the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment about the recent energy crisis and other developments in Bangladesh.

Chowdhury said that Washington will dispatch a delegation to observe Bangladesh’s infrastructural development and the feasibility of investment in renewable and clean energy sectors.

As the government has decided to explore methane gas, they will have to invite international exploration companies into the bidding process to initiate Production Sharing Contracts.

He said, due to high fuel prices, the government’s expenditure has risen by Tk 9 billion. “If we could have avoided the expenditure, we would have avoided today’s crisis.”

While dwelling on the current load shedding, he said, the coal-fired power plants are going to be commissioned soon to bring relief to the people.

However, about setting up an oil refinery, he said, “We would like to have a refinery set up by the crude oil exporting country. And, we have already talked to a Kuwait- based company.”

The energy adviser told the journalists that Bangladesh can store fuel oil for up to 45 days.

Energy secretary Md. Mahbub Hossain said, it would be safer if the country could store oil for 60 days.

While responding to a reporter, Chowdhury said they are still unaware of any price quotation by the Russian authorities.