BPC urges DCs to stop smuggling of diesel to India

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has urged deputy commissioners (DCs) of the 26 bordering districts to take measures to control fuel oil smuggling across the border.
According to BPC, one litre of diesel in India is now sold at Tk 52  higher than Bangladesh, which prompted the smuggling rackets to smuggle out diesel across the border. The BPC is presently incurring a loss of more than Tk 22 crore per day as the corporation is buying oil from international market at higher prices and selling the products at lower prices in the domestic market.
"We wrote to the DCs on the issue and provided them with a list of fuel stations there, we urged them to bring all the filling stations under strong monitoring to check smuggling," a senior official of the Energy Division told the Daily Observer on Saturday.
He said smuggling of petroleum products has become rampant recently following the huge upsurge of LNG price in the international market.
Mostly, the lorry and trucks are involved in the racket, they enter into Bangladesh with a half or quarter loaded lorry and fill it from local pumps (a large oil truck can load 1,360 liters (359 gallons of diesel), we urged the DCs to check the vehicles at entry points thus we can stop the smuggling, the official said.
Pump prices of gasoline in India are the highest in the South Asian region, according to data compiled by GlobalPetrolPrices.com. That's resulting in the illegal trade, he added.
Kazi Arifur Rahman,
Additional Deputy Commissioners (ADC) of Shatkhira Districts told this correspondent on Saturday that they have strengthened the monitoring system in the filling stations along the border areas in collaboration with the BGB and local police.
Around 30 filling stations are situated at the 26 districts of the bordering areas.
BPC official said they (BPC) also requested the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to take necessary steps against taking illegally the products into neighbouring India.
Oil prices in Bangladesh are fixed by the government through executive order and the last change was made on April 24 in 2016 when the government reduced the retail price of furnace oil, diesel, kerosene, octane and petrol to Tk 42 per litre, Tk 65 per litre, Tk 65 per litre, Tk 89 per litre and Tk 86 per litre respectably, following the drastic fall in oil prices in the international market.
But in India, the oil price is determined in accordance with the price fluctuations in the international market, however, they (India) increased the retail price of all gasoline products, the BPC official said.
According to the BPC, fuel oil demand in the petroleum filling stations in the bordering areas increased significantly over the past several months, however, he cannot figure out any number in this regard but said, "BPC is working over the issue."