Eastern Refinery hits record in production

Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), Bangladesh's sole state-run facility for processing crude oil into various petroleum products, set a record by surpassing its installed production capacity in fiscal year 2024-25.

A total of 1.53 million tonnes of crude oil were processed in the year, whereas its capacity is 1.5 million tonnes per year, as per records from 1968 when it was established.

Officials say the facility's annual output has occasionally surpassed the capacity in recent years, which they say is a testament to improvements in its operational efficiency.Several factors contributed to refining more crude oil than the facility's installed capacity, with manpower efficiency being a key one. In addition, an uninterrupted supply of raw materials made it possible to process additional fuel oil, they said.

In fiscal year 2020-21, the ERL processed 1.513 million tonnes of crude oil.

As per estimates from the officials, the country's annual demand for fuel oil stands at over 5.7 million tonnes.

To meet this demand, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) imports refined oil from various countries alongside processing crude oil through its subsidiary, the ERL.

According to BPC officials, the ERL currently supplies about 27 percent of the nation's demand for petroleum products, including oil, gas, and lubricants.

"This achievement was made possible by the combined efforts of the power, energy and mineral resources ministry, the BPC, and the ERL team," ERL Managing Director Sharif Hasnat told The Daily Star.

"It is very encouraging that the refinery continues to exceed its installed capacity, which is a positive sign for the country," he said. Sources noted that the ERL sometimes has to suspend crude oil processing for maintenance, but this year, operations ran uninterrupted.

Expressing satisfaction, BPC Chairman Md Amin Ul Ahsan said the ERL's record output was achieved through coordinated efforts of its management. "This is a positive development for us," he said. "However, to meet the country's growing demand, the process for constructing Eastern Refinery Unit-2 is underway. The government is arranging funding for this project," he said.