China and Bangladesh signed a framework agreement on oil pipeline project

Almaty. October 31. Silkroadnews - China and Bangladesh signed a framework agreement on the oil pipeline project, China Daily reported.
“The Bangladeshi government signed a framework agreement with China on Sunday for construction of a 220-km pipeline to carry oil from tankers in the Bay of Bengal to storage plants on Chinese mainland,” the report said.
The Secretary of the Department of Economic Relations of Bangladesh (ERD) Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang signed the framework agreement in the capital of Dhaka. The project, they mark, is aimed to reach a balance between the demand and supply of energy needs of the country and ensure the country’s energy security, in addition, the project is also expected to reduce the system losses when importing refined and non-refined fuel.
Reportedly the new infrastructure will help the country to save about 1 billion taka ($12.5 million) per year due to reduction in shipment cost and operational losses.
A diesel fuel and crude oil storage tank will be set up at the island of Moheshkhali on the Bay of Bengal in the Bangladeshi district of Cox Bazaar. According to officials, the cost of the project is 54.26 billion taka ($694 million), the capacity is expected to stand at 9 million tonnrs per year.
According to the project, the Chinese company will build a 146-kilometer offshore pipeline and a 74-kilometer onshore pipeline to transport imported oil from tankers to an oil refinery in the Chittagong district, about 242 kilometers southeast of Dhaka.
The project was launched, as Bangladesh is not capable of handling large vessels carrying imported crude and finished oil products, due to the low navigability of the key river channel and constrained facilities at the main seaport in Chittagong.
According to officials, large tankers are anchored in the deep sea areas, and small ships unload them, which takes a lot of time and leads to significant financial losses.