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A strong lobby inside the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is trying to award a Chinese firm the operation and maintenance job of Single-Point Mooring (SPM) system in the Bay of Bengal bypassing tender, it is alleged.

If the Chinese firm is awarded the job, it would further reduce transparency of the project, it is apprehended.

The SPM system is used for piping petroleum from vessels far offshore into onshore storage tanks, thus slashing both time and cost of oil import.

Sources said the Chinese firm built the country’s maiden SPM system after being selected as a contractor unsolicited under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010.

Project cost escalated by 60 per cent to Tk80 billion from initially targeted Tk50 billion, the sources added.

The Chinese firm handed over the SPM project to state-run BPC in August after its successful testing and commissioning in April.

The contract with the Chinese firm over building the SPM expired in June, 2024.

The ‘installation of the SPM with double pipeline’ project is being implemented with Chinese concessional loan of around $554 million, said sources.

Of the total loan amount, China is providing around $467.84 million as preferential buyers’ credit and the remaining $82.5 million as soft loan.

The Exim Bank of China is providing the money to be repaid within 20 years at an interest rate of 2.0 per cent per annum with five years’ grace period.

Despite its commissioning in April, the SPM remained unutilised due to absence of an operation and maintenance contractor, said sources.

Once it is fully executed, the BPC will be able to unload petroleum products from a 100,000-deadweight tonnage tanker within 48 hours, which now takes 11 days.

No lighterage vessel would be required to carry fuel from mother vessel, which is now moored at the outer quay, after implementation of the project.

The BPC used to pay US$5.50 per tonne to lighterage or small vessels, owned mainly by the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) to ferry petroleum to its onshore tanks from larger mother vessels.

The SPM is set to save the cost of the BPC in unloading fuel significantly.

Once the SPM becomes fully operational, Bangladesh will annually save around Tk 8.0 billion ($75.50 million) solely by reducing transport costs of petro-products from outer anchorage to onshore fuel tankers.

As part of the project, a 220-kilometre pipeline has been installed, with most of it laid in the waters of the Bay of Bengal.

Work on the construction of the fuel-pumping stations and six storage tanks has also been completed.

The tanks have a combined capacity of 240,000 tonnes of petroleum products, with 150,000 tonnes designated for crude oil and 90,000 tonnes for gasoil.

Previously, imported petroleum could not be directly offloaded into Chattogram storage tanks.

Large tankers anchored in the deep-sea area, and smaller vessels were responsible for unloading the petroleum products and transporting them to onshore storage facilities.

The SPM will enable offloading of 120,000 tonnes of crude oil within 48 hours and 70,000 tonnes of gasoil (diesel) within 28 hours.

Bangladesh annually imports around 7.0-million tonnes of combined crude and refined oils to meet the growing demand driven by a thriving economy.

Azizjst@yahoo.com