The test commissioning of 110km-long double pipeline to pump crude petroleum products directly to Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) and the Single Point Mooring (SPM) will be held on June 25, Project Director Sharif Hasnat told the Daily Observer on Saturday.
With the commissioning of the project, huge petroleum-carrier ships will be able to offload fuel directly ERL by the pipeline, he said.
The deadline for completion of the project is June 2023. But he said that the project has already been completed ahead of deadline.
“Under the current arrangement, big ships usually anchor at deep sea at Kutubdia from where lighter vessels receive the imported crude and refined petroleum to carry to the Eastern Refinery with the whole process taking 12 to15 days” Sharif said.
After beginning the operation of the Project, the crude petroleum products will be directly pumped to the ERL site.
‘Blue Water’ a Holland Firm has manufactured the SPM and 220km-long pipe under the supervision of a Chinese organisation, China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited (CPPECL).
The project includes construction of Storage Tank, Pump House and installation of 110km-long double pipeline totalling of 220km. The Chinense Exim Bank has been providing financial assistance for the project.
Installation of all pipelines has already been completed, Sharif added.
The Buoy is the principal articles of the Single Point Mooring (SPM) of the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) styled “Installation of Single Point Mooring with double pipeline’ at Moheshkhali.
Curently, two lighter vessels of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) carry the imported petroleum products to ERL site from the Kutubdia site of the Bay.
But when the SPM will be set up with underground pipeline, it will take just 24 to 48 hours.
The proposed pipeline from deep sea will save both time and money of the government as it will help to unload crude and refined petroleum from the vessels in the deep sea without berthing in the port.
The BPC sources said, with its installation, a total of taka 800 crore will be saved.
At present, the country imports nearly 80 million tons of crude and refined petroleum fuel to meet the annual demands. Of them nearly 1.2 million tons are refined in ERL, the only refinery of the country.
This import is expected to rise significantly when a number of fuel-fired power plants have already been set up in the country.
As per project proforma, 110km-long double pipeline from deep sea of Moheshakhali to Eastern Refinery site in Chattogram is installed for carrying crude and refined petroleum products.
The 110km-long pipe line is being installed in two lines. One pipeline will transport crude oil while another pipeline will carry refined oil.
17km-long pipeline from deep sea to Moheshkhali point has been installed at 36 inches while from Moheshakhali to Chattogram ERL site is 8 inch diameter pipeline.
The pipeline has been installed off-shore and on-shore both. The 74 km long off-shore installation include from deep sea near Kutubdia to Anowara at the bottom of the Bay of Bengal. Then 36 km long on-shore installation includes from Anowara to the Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL) premises.
The proposed pipeline from deep sea will save both time and money of the government as it will help to unload crude and refined petroleum from the vessels in the deep sea without berthing in the port.
Meanwhile, the concerned authority has already acquired a total of 191 acres of land for the project in Moheshkhali. Sources further said, the installation works of 220 km long double pipeline had started at the end of 2019.
The estimated cost for the SPM project is around Taka 7,124 crore, which is being financed by Chinese EXIM Bank. Under the project, there will be installations of SPM and 220 kilometer double pipeline, storage tanks and pump station at Moheshkhali. Besides, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), a fire fighting station, will be set up.
The main objectives of the project are to ensure unloading of imported crude oil and finished products with ease, with low cost and in short time, reducing the system loss in import of crude and finished products through lighterage operation, keeping balance between the growing demand of energy and its supply, enhancing the petroleum oil retention capacity through setting up of six diesel and crude oil storage tanks at Moheshkhali and increasing energy supply security.
