BERC cuts furnace oil price by 18pc to Tk 70.1 a litre

Business Desk:

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has cut furnace oil prices for public and private power producers and industries by 18 percent, from Tk 86 to Tk 70.10 per litre.

The commission set the rate for the first time on Sunday, following a public hearing last month. Previously, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) used to determine the price on its own. BPC sells around 8-9 lakh tonnes of furnace oil annually, mainly to public power generation companies, as well as to some private power producers and industries.

At a hearing on January 29, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) alleged that BPC had charged up to Tk 644 crore more than the actual supply cost over the past one and a half years.

BPDB officials said BPC maintained a fixed price of Tk 86 per litre during the period, although its procurement cost ranged between Tk 57 and Tk 83 per litre in different months. The BPDB proposed setting the price at Tk 50.83 per litre.