Prime Minister will inaugurate SPM in October
Preparations are underway for the official SPM (Single Point Mooring) inauguration in October. The Secretary of the Division of Energy and Mineral Resources Nurul Alom said that the Prime Minister can officially inaugurate.
Sources in the Division of Energy and Mineral Resources said that an unexpected accident occurred in the pipeline connecting the ship during the experimental oil discharge on July 3. Some goods were damaged. Some goods are to be brought to launch the project. The Chinese company implementing the project has already started the process of importing these goods. The commissioning date is set for the middle of this month. At the same time preparations are going on for the inauguration by the Prime Minister.
'Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline' project under construction at Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar. A floating jetty has been set up west of Maheshkhali Island (in the Bay of Bengal). Two parallel pipelines of 110 km length have been completed from the jetty to the North Patenga Eastern Refinery Limited in Chattogram district via the Pump Station and Tank Farm (PSTF) in Cox's Bazar's Maheshkhali Upazila. Besides, 3 crude oil and 3 refined oil tanks, SCADA systems, main pump, booster pump, generator, metering station, pigging station, office and residential buildings, fire fighting system and other ancillary facilities in the Pump Station and Tank Farm (PSTF) area of Maheshkhali Upazila. Facilities and all necessary infrastructure are being constructed.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that SPM (Single Point Mooring) will make an effective contribution to make fuel oil management cost-effective and sustainable. Pipelines are laid under water. Till now fuel oil imported in big ships used to take 11-12 days to reach refinery tanks by lighter ships. If SPM is activated, it will take only 48 hours to transport the same amount of oil. This will save at least Tk. 1000 crore per year, system loss will be reduced. 6 large storage tanks have been built alongside the pipeline; which will take the oil reserve capacity of Bangladesh to a new height. SPM is a groundbreaking mega project in the energy sector of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh does not produce fuel oil, but about 40 percent of gasoline and octane comes from condensate from gas fields. A large amount of diesel and other products are imported. Recently some oil is being imported from India through pipeline. Until now, almost all fuel oil was imported by river. But due to the lack of navigability of the river port, large ships cannot enter. Large oil tankers anchored in the deep sea. From there, oil is brought to BPC's depot in lighter or smaller ships. From BPC, the oil is transported by ship to different parts of the country.
It takes at least 10 to 12 days to discharge oil from a large vessel. Sometimes it takes longer to release this oil. Especially if the sea becomes rough, oil discharge becomes uncertain. Penalties often take longer than agreed with ship owners. If the SPM project is implemented, it will be possible to release diesel and crude oil within 28 to 48 hours. On the one hand, the ship rent will be reduced; on the other hand, system loss and various types of theft will be prevented in oil transportation.
When the SPM starts functioning the fuel oil imported from abroad will be stored in the storage tanks installed in Maheshkhali area through the pipeline. From there, in addition to the storage tank of Patenga depot of Chattogram, Eastern Refinery, it can be stored in various storage tanks of the oil marketing company if necessary. The work of SPM project started in November 2015.