Dhaka in deep talks with IsDB over $1b Eastern Refinery loan terms

[LeonBlack08]

Unfortunately, BD is in the hands of illiterate Mullahs.

Their US backers will no doubt cheer this crude oil monstrosity.

Only the US and Arabs want to prolong the petro dollar.

It appears you are the one illiterate about this particular issue.

How do you think we import Refined oil now? In Indian rupees? We spent almost 11 billion USD in last fiscal year alone.

Do you even know the price difference between refined vs crude oil import? Crude is now at 90s whereas refined is in the range of 130 to 170.

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/12/crude-oil-is-expensive-but-refined-products-are-worse

US and Gulf Arabs will be happy to keep selling us expensive refined oil in US dollars. Looks like you are the one cheerleading for US interest.

This project should have been implemented 15 years ago.

 

[BananaRepublic]

It appears you are the one illiterate about this particular issue.

How do you think we import Refined oil now? In Indian rupees? We spent almost 11 billion USD in last fiscal year alone.

Do you even know the price difference between refined vs crude oil import? Crude is now at 90s whereas refined is in the range of 130 to 170.

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/12/crude-oil-is-expensive-but-refined-products-are-worse

US and Gulf Arabs will be happy to keep selling us expensive refined oil in US dollars. Looks like you are the one cheerleading for US interest.

This project should have been implemented 15 years ago.

Your numbers and article is proof enough that you are illiterate.

1. BD will still have to pay for the crude in dollars
2. After the costs of refining there’s not much change left especially after paying the refinery loans off.
3. The environmental cost in a densely populated region of the country with a fragile eco system.

Yes, you are indeed an A grade illiterate!!!

All because of your unhinged self harming hatred of India.

 

[BananaRepublic]

Btw, BD’s refinery will be even less cost efficient because BD has no ability to utilise the byproducts.

It will have to be exported or dumped

 

[LeonBlack08]

Your numbers and article is proof enough that you are illiterate.

1. BD will still have to pay for the crude in dollars
2. After the costs of refining there’s not much change left especially after paying the refinery loans off.
3. The environmental cost in a densely populated region of the country with a fragile eco system.

Yes, you are indeed an A grade illiterate!!!

All because of your unhinged self harming hatred of India.

Again, like always after I debunk your nonsense, you are back to blabbering and then will soon hide in your hole.

Of course Bangladesh will have to import crude. When did I deny that?

Have you calculated the cost differential between refining at home vs importing refined? How do you know there is not much savings?

Please show your calculations in details, since we are all illiterates here.

No one denied this being harmful to environment. I was in agreement with that with @SoulSpokesman . So don't bring irrelevant points into the discussion.

 

[LeonBlack08]

Btw, BD’s refinery will be even less cost efficient because BD has no ability to utilise the byproducts.

It will have to be exported or dumped

Provide proof of your claim.

 

[Owaiz]

Just because we are in peak oil demand, doesn't mean the transition to green energy will happen overnight. Here in Canada we are still building new pipelines and refinery expansion. Even though Canada energy portfolio is significantly greener than Bangladesh, and most countries in the world.

Importing refined oil is incredibly expensive. Even if we take 30 year period for compete transition to green energy, which is highly optimistic, especially for a country like Bangladesh, you are still looking at years of overpaying for imported refined crude in USD as opposed to buying lower priced Crude. Bangladesh doesn't have any major domestic oil production.

As for only one lender - this is because Bangladesh needs it urgently and cannot shop around for better terms. Not to mention that Bangladesh economy hasn't been particularly a shining light since covid. The article talks about the urgency in completing this project. Because we should have completed this a decade ago. Now that refined oil prices have gone to the moon, everyone is in panic mode. That's typical Bangladeshi bureaucracy's incompetence and lack of foresight in display.

I don't think Canada is building any new greenfield refinery and the US hasn't built one for several decades. And these are countries that produce excess crude. Bangladesh will also have to build up storage for crude since it imports most of its requirements.

The reason refined oil prices have increased is mainly because crude prices have gone up. Refining margins have been relatively tight and will compress further when capacity that was taken out in Russia/Ukraine/Middle East comes back online.

When you import refined product, you do have to pay the crack spread over crude, but you don't have to deal with the huge capital, operating, financing and environment costs of operating a refinery. To be competitive in a vastly oversupplied refining market, you need some edge like massive forward/backward integration or huge economies of scale, neither of which Bangladesh has.

 

[LeonBlack08]

I don't think Canada is building any new greenfield refinery and the US hasn't built one for several decades. And these are countries that produce excess crude. Bangladesh will also have to build up storage for crude since it imports most of its requirements.

The reason refined oil prices have increased is mainly because crude prices have gone up. Refining margins have been relatively tight and will compress further when capacity that was taken out in Russia/Ukraine/Middle East comes back online.

When you import refined product, you do have to pay the crack spread over crude, but you don't have to deal with the huge capital, operating, financing and environment costs of operating a refinery. To be competitive in a vastly oversupplied refining market, you need some edge like massive forward/backward integration or huge economies of scale, neither of which Bangladesh has.

This Bangladeshi project is not a Greenfield project either. We already have a refinery in place. This is for modernization and capacity expansion.

Canada is doing refinery expansion and that's what I referred to.

 

[LeonBlack08]

Refining capacity to triple

The Eastern Refinery modernisation and expansion project is expected to significantly increase the country's domestic oil-refining capacity.

ERL currently has an annual refining capacity of 1.5 million tonnes. Once the modernisation and second-unit expansion are completed, the refinery's capacity is expected to increase by another 3 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes annually.

This would triple ERL's existing refining capacity and help reduce Bangladesh's dependence on imported refined petroleum products.

Full report at -

Redirect Notice

 

[Owaiz]

This Bangladeshi project is not a Greenfield project either. We already have a refinery in place. This is for modernization and capacity expansion.

Canada is doing refinery expansion and that's what I referred to.

If you are tripling capacity, you will have to build an entirely new and independent process train, so , for practical purposes, it is effectively a greenfield. i dont think Canada is expanding any refinery on that scale.

 

[LeonBlack08]

If you are tripling capacity, you will have to build an entirely new and independent process train, so , for practical purposes, it is effectively a greenfield. i dont think Canada is expanding any refinery on that scale.

I beg to differ. It is still brownfield expansion in my opinion.

If we had to start from scratch with zero expertise and experience, then I would have not agreed to this. But the fact that we spent 80% of fuel imports on refined fuel, justifies it given the cost.

Also, there is exploration initiated in deep sea blocks of bay of Bengal, which have good prospects. We have some very limited domestic crude production as well at this time. So if we end up finding more oil, it will further justify having a expanded capacity.

 

[Owaiz]

I beg to differ. It is still brownfield expansion in my opinion.

If we had to start from scratch with zero expertise and experience, then I would have not agreed to this. But the fact that we spent 80% of fuel imports on refined fuel, justifies it given the cost.

Also, there is exploration initiated in deep sea blocks of bay of Bengal, which have good prospects. We have some very limited domestic crude production as well at this time. So if we end up finding more oil, it will further justify having a expanded capacity.

As for Canada - Ontario govt plan is to increase Sarnia refinery capacity by 1.6 times daily, from 500k barrels to 800k barrels per day.

i just looked up Sarnia. You seem to completely misunderstand what is happening there. The government is not building or expanding any refinery there since they don't own any refinery at present and will not in the future. Sarnia currently depends on Line 5 pipeline that passes through Michigan and Wisconsin and is threatened with closure because of legal challenges in Michigan. In response, Alberta and Ontario are in the initial evaluation phase of considering building a replacement pipeline that will have an initial capacity of 500k bpd , expandable up to 800K bpd.

The hope is that it may lead to retention or expansion of refining capacity, but those decisions will be taken by the private companies that operate the refineries at Sarnia and are completely speculative at this time because the new pipeline itself is only in the evaluation phase and it is not even clear if it will ever be built.

 

[LeonBlack08]

i just looked up Sarnia. You seem to completely misunderstand what is happening there. The government is not building or expanding any refinery there since they don't own any refinery at present and will not in the future. Sarnia currently depends on Line 5 pipeline that passes through Michigan and Wisconsin and is threatened with closure because of legal challenges in Michigan. In response, Alberta and Ontario are in the initial evaluation phase of considering building a replacement pipeline that will have an initial capacity of 500k bpd , expandable up to 800K bpd.

The hope is that it may lead to retention or expansion of refining capacity, but those decisions will be taken by the private companies that operate the refineries at Sarnia and are completely speculative at this time because the new pipeline itself is only in the evaluation phase and it is not even clear if it will ever be built.

You are right about the Sarnia expansion capacity. I misunderstood the capacity. I didn't do a deep search of the actual project while responding to you.

In any case, Canada is not the point of discussion here. So let's go back to topic.

 

[BananaRepublic]

I beg to differ. It is still brownfield expansion in my opinion.

Yes! It’s just your “opinion”!

@Owaiz diesel demand has gone through the roof due to the acute electricity shortages.

Generating electricity through mobile generators is expensive and polluting.

BD needs to expand electricity capacity like Hasina was doing to reduce the reliance on diesel.

This idiotic government has grossly mismanaged the power sector leading to shortages.

Now it’s trying to plug the hole by expanding refinery capacity.

Huge waste of money and an eco disaster.

 

[kambhakt]

As for only one lender - this is because Bangladesh needs it urgently and cannot shop around for better terms.

Better to spend some time looking for better lenders at better rates. Can't see what is so urgent that you want a bad deal

 

[LeonBlack08]

Yes! It’s just your “opinion”!

@Owaiz diesel demand has gone through the roof due to the acute electricity shortages.

Generating electricity through mobile generators is expensive and polluting.

BD needs to expand electricity capacity like Hasina was doing to reduce the reliance on diesel.

This idiotic government has grossly mismanaged the power sector leading to shortages.

Now it’s trying to plug the hole by expanding refinery capacity.

Huge waste of money and an eco disaster.

There is a refinery in place for decades. I still don't think you got that point across your head. Because you Keep on blabbering about eco disaster as if this refinery didn't exist for decades.

This is an expansion. So it is brownfield project by every definition. Not a greenfield project. It was his opinion to claim it as greenfield based on practicality. So that was his opinion, not fact.

Also - Where is the proof of your claim that I asked you earlier? You claimed We don't need the byproducts of refined oil. Provide the proof.

Still waiting.