Bangladesh entering anew era of oil release

Tk 8,00 cr will save, time to be reduced to 48-hrs

AKM Belal Uddin, Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar: Bangladesh is about to enter a new era of crude oil extraction. Crude oil will now be brought to Maheshkhali through pipelines, no longer in lighterage vessels from the deep sea. Later it will be refined there. Where earlier it used to take 11 days to clear oil, now it will be possible in just 48 hours. This will save the government Tk 800 crore annually. It will be completed through the ‘Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline’ project.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the project after the end of August or early September.
Almost all works of SMP project have been completed. Now it’s time to wait for the opening.
It has been seen on the surface that 6 huge tanks have been constructed for oil release. Large oil pipelines have been installed oil refinery equipment is also ready. Containers are also ready at the project area. Now just waiting for the oil refining journey to begin in the pipeline.
According to project sources, 97 percent of the work has been completed. Due to some mechanical error in the first commissioning, the official opening of the oil discharge process will begin at the end of August or early September after the re-commissioning. And through this, Bangladesh will enter the new era of oil redemption.
When asked, the Project Officer of the Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline’ project Manjed Ali Shanto told Daily Industry, “Commissioning will take place at the end of August or at the beginning of September.” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate this project only after it is completed. Through this, the oil release process will start through the pipeline.
Project officer Manjed Ali Shanto said, “The project is a priority project of the current government. 97 percent of this project built on 191 acres of land has been completed. It can be launched anytime this year. Earlier, where the crude oil used to come in shiploads, the oil was lightered from mother vessel and taken to Chittagong. It would take 10 to 11 days and cost a lot of money. Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) within 15 km from the project by mooring mother vessel at the bay we can discharge a vessel within 48 hours. From there we can store the oils in three finished and three crude tanks and from there we can deliver the oils. By doing this, we will save Tk 800 crore annually. 9 million tons of crude oil can be released here annually.
In response to a question, the official said that the testing work of the project had started. But there is a delay due to a small accident. We have sent a report to the ministry. They will decide this matter soon. He further said, ‘There is going to be a separate company to manage the project. It will create employment for many people. Employment of local people will also be created here.
Moheshkhaliupazilanirbahi officer Yasin told Daily Industry, “This is a national project. This project, if implemented, will have a huge impact on the country’s economy. According to project officials, if this project is launched, Tk 800 crores will be saved. And this Tk 800 crore will be added to our reserve. New employment will also be created around the project.
According to project sources, the government took up the single point mooring (SPM) project of double pipeline in deep sea in November 2015. In this project, separate crude and diesel storage tanks have been installed at Maheshkhali Island. And the SPM buoy has been placed in the Bay of Bengal on the western side of Maheshkhali Island, where large ships anchored bringing oil from abroad. Oil will be brought from ships adjacent to this buoy through a pipeline and stored in the storage tank at Maheshkhali. Later, it will be sent from the storage tank to the Eastern Refinery Limited through the Padma Oil Company by crossing the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong. From there it will be stored in the storage tanks of different companies and supplied across the country.
It is known that the project has been built on 191 acres of land. The 6 storage tanks of the project include 3 crude oil (net capacity 50 thousand cubic meters each) and 3 diesel tanks (30 thousand cubic meters). The storage tanks are built about 20 feet above the ground. So that water can’t rise in the storage tank during floods or major natural disasters. 2 separate pipelines of 36 radii from SPM are joined in the deep Bay of Bengal. Those concerned said that there are almost natural disasters in this upazila near the Bay of Bengal. Therefore, the storage tanks have been installed here after analyzing the weather conditions of about one and a half hundred years.
Those concerned said that if the project is fully implemented, the transportation cost and wastage of oil clearance will be reduced. This will save the government a huge amount of foreign exchange every year. Besides, the oil wastage during unloading will also come down to zero.