Staff Reporter :
The decision to award the operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for Bangladesh’s first Single Point Mooring (SPM) project to China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co. Ltd (CPPEC) is being reversed.
“The Energy and Mineral Resources Division has decided not to allow BPC to sign the contract with CPPEC and instructed us to invite fresh international tenders for a competitive selection process,” said BPC Chairman Md Amin Ul Ahsan. This process could take 7-8 months to complete.
Previously, the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs (ACCEA) had approved BPC’s proposal to award the contract to CPPEC on November 21. However, the repeal of the Speedy Increase of Power and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010 on December 1, following a High Court order, invalidated the approval. CPPEC, which was already the project’s contractor, had been selected for O&M without competitive bidding.
The SPM project, located on 90 acres in Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar, is a Bangladesh-China government-to-government initiative costing Tk 8,341 crore. It includes a 36-inch-wide pipeline transporting crude oil from a mooring point to storage tanks in Matarbari and then 220 km to the Eastern Refinery in Patenga via an 18-inch-wide pipeline.
The SPM is expected to significantly improve fuel offloading efficiency, reducing transfer time from 11-12 days to just 48 hours and saving around Tk 800 crore annually. The facility includes three crude oil storage tanks (60,000 kilolitres each) and three refined oil tanks (36,000 kilolitres each). Offshore and onshore pipelines, totaling approximately 193 km, have been installed, along with six storage tanks.
Bangladesh imports around 6 million tonnes of oil annually, of which 1.3 million tonnes is crude oil. Once operational, the SPM will streamline petroleum offloading and transport, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.