Fuel sales jumped just before price hike
Industry people say filling stations, dealers had inside info
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) had registered a sharp jump in sales of furnace oil, diesel and kerosene on November 3, a day before the new rate came into effect, raising questions.
On Wednesday, the sales of fuel from the various depots of Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, and Standard Asiatic Oil Company Ltd, the subsidiaries of the state-run corporation, surged compared to the previous day.
On the day, the depots across the country sold around 500 tonnes of kerosene, up 43 per cent from 350 tonnes a day before, BPC data showed.
As high as 16,000 tonnes of diesel were sold on Wednesday, which was 14.28 per cent higher than the volume of 14,000 tonnes on Tuesday.
The depots also sold 2,400 tonnes of furnace oil on November 3, up 50 per cent from 1,600 tonnes a day earlier.
Industry people say filling stations, dealers and power plants started storing fuels after they had the inside information about the government move to increase the prices of three major petroleum products used in transport, cultivation, irrigation and power generation.
Diesel and kerosene are now 23 per cent costlier at Tk 80 per litre as the government moved to help BPC recover the losses from the surging global energy prices.
A senior official of BPC, seeking anonymity, said that there might be two reasons for the sudden rise in sales: information of the hike might have got leaked before the announcement came. Or, some marketing officials of the corporation might have manipulated it by showing the inflated sales figure.
Whatever the reasons, the government has incurred losses, he said.
ABM Azad, chairman of BPC, however, ruled out any possibility of the leaking of the price hike-related information.
"It is not possible that there was an information leak. The ministry had maintained the highest confidentiality. We even can't say when the price will be increased. We only place proposals to the ministry."
About the higher sales, he said: "The marketing division looks after the issue. We are also working to find out the reasons."
Bangladesh currently has a stock of 520,000 tonnes of diesel, 22,000 tonnes of kerosene, and 66,000 tonnes of furnace oil, sufficient to meet the domestic demand for more than a month.