Bangladesh seeks collaboration with Saudi Arabia for crude oil imports

• Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met in Jeddah to discuss Israel’s aggression.
• The two foreign ministers expressed satisfaction with the bilateral engagement.
• Dr. Ijaz Hossain believes a deferred payment facility would ease the economic crisis in Bangladesh.

During a meeting in Jeddah, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud sought cooperation for the import of crude oil from his Saudi counterpart as the South Asian nation works to secure support to help address challenges in its fragile economy.

Mahmud and the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, where they joined other foreign ministers to discuss Israel’s ongoing aggression in Palestine.

“During the meeting, (the) Bangladesh foreign minister expressed satisfaction on the level of bilateral engagement between the two brotherly countries and hoped that such cooperation would deepen in the coming days,” the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a release.

“He looked forward to further (augmenting) sectoral cooperation between the two countries and (increasing) trade and investment opportunities. Foreign Minister Mahmud (also) sought cooperation in crude oil purchase.”

According to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corp., which controls the import and marketing of fuel in the country, Bangladesh imports most of its oil needs and requires about 1.5 million metric tons of crude oil annually.

Zahid Hossain, BPC Deputy General Manager, stated that a deferred payment facility from Saudi Arabia would be helpful as the nation struggles to pay for some imported fuel due to its dwindling foreign reserves.

“It’s very important as we are importing a large volume of crude oil from Saudi Arabia … If we can achieve this opportunity, it will be a great support for us,” Hossain told Arab News on Wednesday.

He added that Bangladesh currently imports around 700,000 metric tons of crude oil from Saudi Aramco and has so far managed to pay the Kingdom on time with the help of funds from the Jeddah-based International Islamic Trade Finance Corp.

“If we can defer the payment longer than 30 days, we will be able to use this ITFC fund to import other refined petroleum products. So, it will ease our financial burden to some extent,” he said.

Dr. Ijaz Hossain, an energy expert and professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, stated that a deferred payment facility from Saudi Arabia would “play a very significant role” in easing the economic crisis in Bangladesh.

“Due to the dollar crunch, we are facing many difficulties in purchasing the oil. But we are expecting that things will improve in the coming days, and it has to improve. Otherwise, we have to readdress many other issues in the economy,” Hossain told the news.

“The opportunity of a deferred payment for oil import will be a great help for us. It’s a desperate need of the moment.”

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