Bangladesh eyes India route to refine Russian crude amid supply crunch

New Delhi: Bangladesh is exploring an arrangement to refine Russian crude in India before importing the processed fuels, as it seeks to address supply disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict.

Under the plan being considered, Bangladesh will bear the cost of crude import, refining in India and transportation of the processed fuel, people aware of the development told ET.

This week, Bangladesh's Energy and Mineral Resources Division forwarded a request in this regard to Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, seeking approval to engage with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a government-to-government (G2G) agreement, according to Dhaka-based sources.


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Bangladesh's only state-owned refinery in Chittagong is less suited for processing Russian crude, which is mostly of the heavier grade, leaving the country heavily dependent on imported refined fuels. The refinery has an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes and is primarily configured to process Middle Eastern crude.

Increasing diesel imports from India figured high on the agenda of Bangladesh Foreign Minister's visit to India this week. Bangladesh already maintains energy cooperation with India through a cross-border diesel pipeline from Siliguri to Parbatipur in Dinajpur.

The pipeline enables imports from Numaligarh Refinery Limited under a 15-year agreement signed in 2023.

A temporary waiver of US sanctions on Russian oil exports has created a limited opportunity for Bangladesh to explore indirect imports.

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Bangladesh is also proposing to import up to 600,000 tonnes of Russian diesel, ET had reported earlier this month.

Last month, the Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Alexander Khozin, met Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku to discuss bilateral energy cooperation.