Partex Petro Ltd, an oil refinery, has started making and selling aviation fuel, making it the first company in Bangladesh to do so for the growing market for air travel. This largest condensate refining plant has been built on 40 bighas of land, beside the Karnaphuli river at Anwara, Chattogram.
With an investment of BDT 1,400 crore, the factory was built by Partex Group, which at its peak will generate 14,000 barrels of gasoline, octane, and diesel per day, including 2,800 barrels of jet fuel.
Rubel Aziz, managing director of Partex Group, claimed, “We are able to meet one-third of the demand for jet fuel in the nation and save $300 million in foreign currencies.
Bangladesh requires more than 9,000 barrels of jet fuel daily. Apart from domestic and foreign airlines, private helicopter operators, Bangladesh Air Force and Bangladesh Army also require jet fuels. Aziz estimates that because Partex Petro imports base oil, the value addition is about $50 per barrel.
“The cost of importing completed oil will cost the government $159 a barrel. We are assisting the administration in containing the dollar situation.”
Partex Petro initiated its commercial operation in May, and delivered its first shipment of 10 lakh liters of jet fuel to Padma Oil on October 22. which operates refueling stations at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, and the Osmani International Airport in Sylhet, supplies jet fuel to all domestic and international aircraft.
In fiscal year 2020–2021, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) sold roughly 238,000 tonnes of jet fuel, down from 345,000 tonnes a year earlier as the coronavirus pandemic severely affected the domestic and international air travel business..
As part of Trust Bank Ltd’s syndicated loan, nine banks and non-banking financial institutions contributed Tk 980 crore toward the Tk 1,400 crore investment. The remaining Tk 420 crore came from stock.
Subir Kumar Ghose, the chief executive officer of Partex Petro, claims that the plant can meet the nation’s energy requirements. He said, “Our refineries are strategically positioned in the southern region of Bangladesh, providing the advantages of low transportation costs for raw materials and close proximity to high-growth markets.”
Trust Bank managing director Humaira Azam said, “We came to the conclusion that it could be a project. The company will be successful, contribute to the economy and assist the government raise money”.
As airline flight schedules expanded to accommodate more passengers, Partex Petro began producing aviation gasoline.
Before the coronavirus epidemic struck the airline industry in 2019, 29 foreign and three domestic carriers, including the state-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines, operated in Bangladesh and transported 500,000 passengers.
This year, air travel has recovered, and it is anticipated that more people will fly than there were before the pandemic.
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