Bangladesh buys M'sia produced condensate cargoes

Bangladesh's Petromax Refinery Limited has bought its first two condensate cargoes to start trial runs at its new refining facility, the company's managing director said on Wednesday.

Petromax has bought 10,000 tonnes of Malaysia's Cakerawala condensate from European trader Trafigura.

One 5,000-tonne cargo has arrived at Port Mongla in southern Bangladesh, where the plant is located.

A second cargo is to arrive on Saturday.

The refinery is one of several small units sprouting up in the South Asian country to process condensate into oil products for local consumption.

Bangladesh will turn into a net condensate importer this year as its local annual output of 300,000 tonnes is insufficient to meet the new demand.

"We will need to import around 150,000 tonnes of condensate as our refinery will be fully relying on imported condensate," Petromax'smanaging director Feroz Alam told Reuters.

The refinery - expected to start operation by July - will provide a new outlet for Asia's condensate sellers, who have been struggling with a supply glut after naphtha margins slumped in early May.

Petromax has bought 10,000 tonnes of Malaysia's Cakerawala condensate from European trader Trafigura.

One 5,000-tonne cargo has arrived at Port Mongla in southern Bangladesh, where the plant is located. A second cargo is to arrive on Saturday.

The new refinery has a capacity of 2,500 barrels per day (bpd) and consists of an atmospheric distillation unit, a naphtha hydrotreater and catalytic refining unit.

It will produce oil products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas for the local market.