Eastern Refinery's second unit to be built with govt funding

The government has finally decided to construct Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) Unit-2 with state funding, moving away from its earlier plan of seeking foreign investment.

Besides, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has taken up plans to establish two more refineries in Matarbari and Payra.

BPC Chairman Md Amin Ul Ahsan shared the information at a press conference held at the ERL premises in Chattogram yesterday afternoon.

The press conference was arranged to celebrate a new record by ERL, which refined 1.535 million tonnes of crude oil in the recently concluded 2024-25 fiscal year.

ERL Managing Director Md Sharif Hasnat presented the written statement at the event.

Also present were ERL Board Chairman and Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs Nasimul Ghani, BPC Director (Operations and Commercial) AKM Azadur Rahman, and BPC Secretary Shahina Sultana.

Speaking about ERL Unit-2, the BPC chairman said the corporation will provide $1.5 million in funding for the project, while the rest will be financed by the government through annual budget allocations.

"Once the funding is secured, we will move forward with the DPP (Development Project Proposal)."

ERL Board Chairman Nasimul Ghani said the preliminary groundwork for the ERL Unit-2 project has already been prepared.

"Construction will begin as soon as the funds are available."

On the new refinery projects, BPC Chairman Amin Ul Ahsan said foreign investment is being sought for the refineries planned in Matarbari and Payra.

The Matarbari refinery is expected to have a production capacity of one million tonnes.

Highlighting the global reluctance to invest in fossil fuels, he said export facilities will be included in the Matarbari refinery plan to attract foreign investors.

"We hope to find interested investors," he added.