Bangladesh begins importing 0.005% sulfur gasoil as climate action looms

Dhaka — Bangladesh has started importing 0.005% sulfur gasoil this month -- marking a departure from its previous imports of 0.05% sulfur gasoil -- as the government toughens its stance on rising pollution, a senior executive at Bangladesh Petroleum Corp. told S&P Global Platts July 21.

State run BPC has imported two cargoes carrying 0.005% sulfur gasoil from Unipec Singapore Pte Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp., or IOC, in the week that began July 19, said the company's director for operations and planning Syed Mahdi Hasan.

Both cargoes have a capacity of 30,000 mt of gasoil each, he added.

BPC usually imports refined petroleum products under term deals. Among its various suppliers, Unipec Singapore and Vitol Asia have been at the top, supplying refined oil over the past few years under its tendering system.

India's IOC has been a relatively new entrant and was awarded a tender recently during the coronavirus pandemic.

BPC will import around 4.5 million mt of 0.005% sulfur gasoil annually to meet domestic demand, Hasan said.

Prior to this move, BPC had last changed the sulfur content of gasoil for imports in January 2015, when it started importing 0.05% sulfur gasoil instead of 0.20%-0.25% sulfur gasoil.

Maritime action

Meanwhile, BPC will also import lower sulfur marine fuels -- 180 CST high sulfur fuel oil with 0.5% sulfur instead of HSFO with 3.5% sulfur -- from this month, Hasan said.

BPC will import half of its total marine fuel requirements through tenders and the remainder through negotiations with suppliers, he said.

It's marine fuel requirement with 0.5% sulfur requirement is around 175,000 mt annually.

The thrust on cleaner marine fuels comes at a time when environmental rules in international shipping are gaining more traction.

Now that the shipping industry has transitioned to the International Maritime Organization's global low sulfur mandate implemented January 1 of this year, the maritime industry is taking steps to advance decarbonization.

The IMO, in April 2018, laid out its strategy on greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to reduce the shipping industry's total GHG emissions by at least 50% from 2008 levels, by 2050, and to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work by at least 40% by 2030.