The country’s lone state-owned oil importer, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is set to reap the benefits of low global oil prices, which is currently hovering around its 73-year low.
Global oil prices have lost two-third of its value since mid-January amid weakened demand coupled with oversupply due to the coronavirus crisis.
The country’s economy is expected to benefit from the dramatic fall in oil prices, economists said.
However, inadequate storage capacity (covers up to 45-60 days usage) will bar Bangladesh from maximizing its gain from the low oil prices. This is because the oil price can potentially recover once the demand picks up in the post-lockdown situation across the countries around the world, explained an analyst.
In case the current global oil prices remain the same for another year, this could potentially bring in an additional gross profit of around Tk2,000 crore for BPC in the financial year 2020-2021, analysts hinted.
During the financial year 2018-2019, BPC generated a net profit of Tk3,846 crore as compared to Tk6,533 crore in 2017-2018, according to the company’s provisional annual report 2018-19 published in its website on February 13.
