Jet fuel comes in third place in terms of importance to the transportation industry. Bangladesh, which occupies a lucrative geostrategic location, has made the decision to improve its airline services and turn this area into an air transportation hub that can connect east and west Asia. This decision was reached in light of the fact that Bangladesh’s location is of tremendous geostrategic and economic value. At the moment, Bangladesh has an everyday need for more than 9,000 barrels of jet fuel. However, the war in Ukraine, the economic slowdown that followed the pandemic, and the mayhem in international politics have all hit the oil market extremely hard, which has led to a rise in price across the board. Padma Oil Company, a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), increased the price of jet fuel by Tk 5 per liter, which led to a precipitous increase in the price of jet fuel in Bangladesh, which has now reached Tk 111. Over the course of the last 19 months, there have been sixteen separate price increases for jet fuel. In the month of December 2020, the price per liter was Tk 46.
The price increase has begun to cause disruptions in commercial flights, and businesses are incurring enormous economic losses as a result. In addition, Bangladesh is home to 29 international airlines and three domestic airlines, one of which being the state-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The fact that Bangladesh does not have any factories that produce jet fuel, on the other hand, makes the issue an even greater challenge. Airline companies and authorities were forced to depend on sources from other countries. When seen from this angle, the construction of a jet fuel facility in Bangladesh is an event that ushers in a new era for Bangladesh. Partex Petro Ltd., a Bangladeshi oil refinery, is the first company in the country to start producing and selling aviation fuel. This makes Partex Petro Ltd. the first company in Bangladesh to provide the final product for Bangladesh’s growing aviation industry.
– S. M. Saifee Islam is a Research Associate at the KRF Center for Bangladesh and Global Affairs (CBGA).
