BPC earns Tk 200cr profit a month but unwilling to cut price:Daily Sun

 Taking advantage of fall in petroleum prices on the international market, the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has been making a significant profit from the sales proceeds. The corporation, however, is not planning to bring down the rates on the domestic market at the moment in order to offset its previous losses. The BPC has been earning a net profit worth Tk 200 crore per mont
h since October, 2014, BPC officials said, adding that the profit might increase further in the coming months as the oil prices have lowered to $61 per barrel now on the international market. “We are making Tk 1.70 profit per litre of diesel and kerosene after payment of VAT and other duties while BPC also makes Tk 4-5 profit per litre of furnace oil sales,” said an official. Besides, it also got profit of around Tk 12 per litre of Octane, they said. “We have paid between $80 million and US $84 million to import crude oil having capacity of one lakh capacity of ship… now the price comes down to $60 million-$65 million,” the BPC official said. The official said the country consumes 70 percent diesel, 10 percent furnace oil and rest 20 percent kerosene, Octane, petrol and Jet A-1 fuel out of total consumption of 56 lakh tons of petroleum fuels. The BPC has got profit from sales of diesel and kerosene after 17 years since 1997. They said the BPC would require around two and a half years for minimising its previous losses. In July this year, the BPC has sought Tk 8,053.28 crore from the finance division. The corporation incurred such amount of loss between fiscal year 1999-2000 and 2012-13, according to BPC officials. The BPC is yet to get any subsidy to sell petroleum fuels so far in this fiscal (2014-15). The corporation has estimated a target of Tk 2,000 crore in fuel subsidy. “We have got profit as the international oil market experienced lowered oil prices,” BPC chairman Eunusur Rahman said. Besides, Energy and Mineral Resources Division secretary Abu Bakar Siddique told daily sun that they have no intension to reduce fuel prices on the domestic market now although the government is making profit in the sector. The BPC has already incurred losses to sell petroleum fuels on the local market in the last 10 years, he said. “We will observe the oil prices on the international market till January, 2015…if the oil prices continue to fall, then we will consider reviewing it,” he said.