Page 5 - AsianOil Week 11 2023

AsianOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AsianOil

India-Bangladesh oil pipeline set

to open for business

INDIA A much-needed and long-awaited cross-border Bengal.
oil pipeline linking India and its eastern neigh- The oil will initially be transported to the Par-
Bangladesh is anxious bour Bangladesh will finally be switched on as batipur BPC depot, from where it can be distrib-
to access Indian diesel. of March 18. uted as required across Bangladesh.
Speaking to local media in the days leading Much of the mechanical work along the pipe-
up to the official opening ceremony, Bangladeshi line was finally completed in mid-December
Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momenon verbally after having begun in the pre-COVID days of
confirmed that the prime ministers of both India September 2018.
and Bangladesh would be attending a ceremony Even at the event to announce the project
to mark the event. almost five years ago, and attended by both the
It is understood the political leaders of the Indian and Bangladeshi prime ministers, the
region's most populous nations would together construction period was started using video
initiate operations at the site, albeit at a distance, conferencing.
as has been the norm in recent years, and by way The pipeline now has a capacity of 1mn
of a video conference. tonnes per year (tpy), getting around issues of
Speaking just over a week prior to the open- shipping the same amount to the largest Bangla-
ing of the pipeline, the Bangladeshi minister deshi port at Chittagong, which remains incapa-
said: “the good news is that India will send us ble of taking large-scale tankers.
diesel and the pipeline has been completed.” Fuel transportation costs will also subse-
Details released by the Bangladesh Petro- quently be reduced by around half that seen in
leum Corporation (BPC) indicate that the aptly recent years, according to the Bangladeshi Min-
named India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline istry for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
(IBFPL) cost almost INR3.5bn to put in place. It Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral
is understood the bulk of the financing was pro- Resources Nasrul Hamid said: “It will be a mile-
vided by Indian authorities following assurances stone in providing quick and uninterrupted fuel
to this end by Prime Minister Narendra Modi supply to the northern region of the country
when the pipeline was first discussed. in a cost-effective manner,” adding that “it will
In terms of pipeline hardware, although it is ensure energy security and low-cost fuel.” ™
known to be 130 km in length, just 5 km of this
has been laid across Indian territory, with the
remaining 125 km stretching across a large por-
tion of western Bangladesh.
Once in place it is thought pipeline opera-
tions will largely negate the need for Dhaka to
continue using an ageing rail network, and just as
old rolling stock, to transport fuel from its larger
neighbour.
Speaking in the east Indian city of Kolkata,
Andalib Elias, the serving Bangladesh Deputy
High Commissioner to India, said: “that’s a real
manifestation of the wonderful friendship that
these two countries enjoy and the deep relation-
ship of trust and mutual respect that the two
Prime Ministers have with each other.”
Elias went on to say that “Prime Minister
Modi and my Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina,
first initiated this pipeline a few years ago. On
the 18 of March it will be formally launched. The
oil will start going through it. That’s a huge step
forward in the wonderful friendship we have.”
Reports in India confirm that the pipeline
will be carrying fuel from the huge marketing
terminal at the Assam-based Numaligarh Refin-
ery located at Siliguri in the Indian state of West

Week 11 17•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P5