Bangladesh’s Tk 8,298 crore Single Point Mooring (SPM) system has moved closer to regular operation after the government approved the appointment of Indonesia’s state-owned PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental as its operator.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved a five-year operation and maintenance contract worth Tk 1,946.22 crore, including taxes and duties.
The SPM at Maheshkhali was completed and trial operations conducted in March 2024, but it has remained largely idle for more than two years due to the absence of an operator.
The offshore facility allows large tankers to unload crude oil and diesel directly into separate pipelines, eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming lighterage.
It is expected to reduce tanker unloading time from around 11 days to about 48 hours and save BPC hundreds of crore taka annually.
However, the crude-oil pipeline may initially operate at only about one-third of its 4.5-million-tonne annual capacity, as Bangladesh currently imports and processes around 1.5 million tonnes of crude a year.
Full utilization depends largely on the delayed Eastern Refinery Unit-2 project, which is expected to add around 3 million tonnes of annual refining capacity.
BPC Chairman Md Rafiqul Islam said some contractual and technical procedures must still be completed before the Indonesian operator begins work. The SPM is expected to enter operation after the necessary preparations are completed.
