To deal with the energy crisis caused by the Iran war, the government has withdrawn the rationing of fuel supply for 10 consecutive days. However, even after the removal of rationing, there were complaints of fuel shortage and supply shortage in various parts of Dhaka.
In a press conference organized by the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on Sunday, State Minister Anindya Islam Amit said that it has been decided to withdraw all restrictions including rationing in the distribution of fuel oil in consideration of the needs of the farmers during the Boro season. He said, ‘From March 15 until further orders, fuel will be supplied from all distribution centers as per demand.’
It was reported a day earlier that the government is withdrawing restrictions on the sale of fuel oil from Sunday. But even today, long queues of vehicles were seen at various filling stations in the capital. The workers of some petrol pumps said that they are still not getting oil as required from the depot. As a result, while providing supplies as per the needs of the customers, the stock is running out at one stage.
An employee of a filling station in Dhaka said that four thousand liters of diesel and nine thousand liters of octane were found in the afternoon. But the daily demand is about 13 thousand liters. As a result, there is a danger of running out of oil at night.
After the war broke out in the Middle East, oil prices rose on the world market and pressured the supply system. However, some of the imported oil ships have already arrived at Chittagong port, the state minister said.
On March 6, the government set a limit on the sale of fuel oil when there was a tendency to buy excess oil due to panic in the country. Motorcycles initially had a limit of 2 litres, but on March 10 it was increased to 5 litres. Besides, since March 7, the filling stations were supplying 25 percent less than the demand, which increased slightly in the divisional cities on March 11.
Meanwhile, the owners of the filling stations expressed their displeasure over not getting the required fuel supply. Last Saturday, they stopped extracting oil from the depot in Khulna. A similar situation threatened to stop oil extraction in Rajshahi as well.
