The price gap between octane and diesel is set to decrease by Tk11 per litre, thanks to the implementation of an automatic price determination process aligned with international market rates, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said.
Currently, octane is priced Tk21 per litre higher than diesel in the country. With the introduction of the automatic pricing guidelines for fuel oil, the price of octane will be determined at Tk10 per litre more than diesel, the BPC said in a notification on Thursday (29 February).
The automatic price determination system for fuel oil is slated to be effective from March this year, with monthly adjustments in coordination with international market trends, BPC added.
Octane and petrol are primarily used in vehicles, and traditionally, petrol-octane has been priced higher than diesel as a luxury item.
The automatic pricing mechanism will apply to various petroleum products, including diesel, kerosene, octane, petrol, and specific grades of fuel oil, for which the government has fixed sale prices.
The notification also notes that if deemed necessary by the government or BPC, the directive can be extended to other petroleum products, subject to certain conditions.
However, the automated pricing is not coming into effect from today (March 1) although State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid had said on Thursday that it would be effective from March.
Energy Secretary Md Nurul Alam also said that it won't be effective from today. “Since we have not yet received the Prime Minister’s approval to make the guideline effective, we’ve to wait for some more days”, he said.
“We hope, we’ll get the PM’s approval soon and will bring it into effect within 10-12 days”, he told media.
The Fuel Pricing Guidelines, however, giving an example for its effectiveness said that if it is planned to make effective from April 1, the prices of fuels of one month in the international market from February 21 to March 20 has to be taken into consideration to set an average price and then set the price for month of April.