Photo : Collected
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the main regulator of the country's energy sector, has increased the price of fuel periodically in the last 10 years. Thus, the organization has made a net profit of more than Tk 56,000 crore in 10 years.
BPC is buying fuel oil at low price and selling it at high price as it is bearable in the international market. In this case, there is pressure from the IMF not to reduce the price of fuel oil for loan support. And the previous Awami League government used that opportunity.
Those concerned said that the people of the country would have benefited if the price of fuel was reduced. But the price of fuel oil is not decreasing due to various reasons. For this reason, inflation in the country has also increased to a record level for the last two years. As a result, BPC makes huge profits but common people suffer.
According to BPC sources, the company has made a profit of Tk 56,000 crore in the last 10 years. Out of this, only in the financial year 2021-22, the state-owned organization made some losses, even though it made a huge profit in other years.
Analysis of BPC data shows that BPC, which had been running on losses and subsidies for a long time, has turned a big profit in FY 2014-15.
The organization made a profit of Tk 4,126.08 crore that year due to the fall in fuel oil prices in the world market.
Subsequently, BPC's profits doubled in the fiscal year 2015–2016. That year the organization earned a profit of Tk 9,040.07 crore. BPC made a profit of Tk 8,653.40 crore in 2016-17, Tk 5,644.37 crore in 2017-18, Tk 4,768.42 crore in 2018-19, and Tk 5,066.54 crore in 2019-20.
In 2020-21 financial year, it saw the highest profit in the history of BPC. BPC made a profit of Tk 9,559.45 crore in that financial year. However, the company posted a loss of Tk 1,983.39 crore in the financial year 2021-22. BPC turned around again the next year. In the financial year 2022-23, the organization made a profit of Tk 5,653.95 crore.
BPC earned Tk 4,875.40 crore till April last fiscal. Sources said that this profit will be close to Tk 6,000 crore by the end of the financial year. BPC has not yet officially released the profit for the last financial year as the audit has not been completed.
Although the profit figure for the last financial year has not been officially announced, including this figure, the company's net profit in the last 10 years will be more than Tk 56,000 crore. Economists said that despite making huge profits, BPC did not reduce the price of fuel in the country. Which has a negative impact on the production and transportation sectors.
Economist Anu Muhammad told The Daily Messenger that the energy sector is closely related to the country's production and transportation.
Commodity prices continue to rise as the cost of production and transportation increases due to higher oil prices. Cost savings in the energy sector meant that producers could deliver and transport goods more cheaply; Which would have benefited the general consumer level.
Although the price of fuel oil is low in the international market and bearable throughout the year, it does not affect the energy sector of the country. Consumers have complained that BPC has an opportunity to reduce oil prices to make huge profits.
According to economists, ordinary consumers have to bear the brunt of this. They said that more than 7 million tons of fuel oil is currently being used in the country. More than 70 percent of it is diesel. As diesel is used as the main fuel in the country's manufacturing and transport sectors, much depends on its price.
Messenger/Disha
