CHATTOGRAM, June 22: The state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is going to appoint a consultant for the construction of the second unit of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL).
“In this connection, a call for Expressions of Interest (EoI) has already been invited,” ERL Managing Director Engineer Sharif Hasnat told The Daily Observer.
The last date for submission of EoIs is July 6, while the tender box will be opened on the same day, as the government has made progress in fast-tracking the long-delayed ERL Unit-2 project, he said.
He hoped that the consultant might be appointed within the current calendar year.
Earlier, the government took up a plan to set up a second unit of ERL in 2010. It approved Tk 13,000 crore in 2013, but no significant progress was made. In 2022, BPC attempted to proceed with its own funds, raising the estimate to Tk 23,000 crore, but work still did not start.
In 2024, S Alam Group offered to construct ERL-2 for Tk 25,000 crore, which was approved on July 9. However, the project was suspended in August after the political changes that followed the mass uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
The interim government later revived the plan with an estimated cost of Tk 36,410 crore. However, unable to secure foreign loans, the project was revised to be financed through state funds, according to BPC sources.
After completion, ERL-2 is expected to produce Euro-5 gasoline and diesel and upgrade the existing refinery’s output to Euro-5 standards for diesel, motor spirit, and octane.
The unit is expected to produce 400,000 tonnes of furnace oil, 60,000 tonnes of LPG, 600,000 tonnes of Euro-5 gasoline, 1.1 million tonnes of Euro-5 diesel, 200,000 tonnes of lube base oil, and 500,000 tonnes of jet fuel annually.
The project cost was later reduced by Tk 4,465 crore even before construction began, under efforts to rationalise expenses during the interim government’s review.
The revised proposal sets the project cost at Tk 31,000 crore, down from Tk 35,465 crore, and has been submitted to the Planning Commission.
Subsequently, the ECNEC approved the project conditionally on December 23, 2025. It directed a revision of detailed engineering design, construction supervision, commissioning, and related infrastructure to ensure cost efficiency.
