Hartal was observed and hartal wasn’t observed,’ late eminent journalist Nirmal sen wrote in Dainik Bangla newspaper after a day of hartal (general strike) called by the opposition parties against the rule of General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in late 80s.
this iconic sentence had nicely re?ected the contrasting claims of the government and the opposition parties in regard to the hartals, then a frequently used weapon of the political opposition. Fast forward to 2026.
today the country, among many other issues, is facing a fuel crisis caused by US-Israel war on Iran.
there is no shortage of fuel, the government insists. But for about a month the ?lling stations have been witnessing long queues of motorists for fuel. For many the wait goes beyond six to seven hours.
in search of fuel the motorists go from one pump to another.
there is hardly anyone who gets the fuel in one go.
there have been instances of not failing to re?ll the tanks after reaching the pump following hours of wait in lines. Many, especially the drivers working for owners, are becoming sleep-deprived as they hop from one pump to another. Not only vehicles. Fishing boats, speed boats used for transporting river commuters and irrigation pumps are being pinched by the fuel crunch.
the issue has made to the parliament. In response to complaints raised by some opposition MPs Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku reaf?rmed on Monday there is no shortage of fuel in the country. He dismissed the long queues as the outcome of an arti?cial crisis caused by panic buying and hoarding of the fuel by dishonest traders.
a campaign against hoarding has resulted in the discovery of thousands of tonnes of diesel, petroleum and octane in parts of the country. Hefty ?nes are being collected from the erring traders. Authorities have even announced reward up to Tk one lakh for information about the hoarding.
in defense of the government’s claim the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation says it has stock of 1.33 lakh tonnes of diesel following disbursement of supplies on March 29, a reserve enough for 10 days given current demand.
according to Prothom Alo newspaper the authorities are estimated the April demand for diesel at about 4 lakh tonnes. Good news is 95,000 tonnes of diesel are expected to arrive in the country in next 15 days.
there have though been some supply chain disruptions.
as many as 16 ships were supposed to arrive in March, but only 10 of then reached Bangladesh with the remaining others failing to con?rm their arrival.
up to 1 lakh 55 thousand tonnes of diesel was expected.
one of the ships was expected to carry jet fuel too, said the newspaper quoting government authorities. Bangladesh imports two types of fuel: diesel, octane, furnace oil as re?ned from different countries. Crude oil is imported from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
the crude is re?ned in the country’s only state-run re?nery, Eastern Re?nery Limited to produce diesel, petrol and furnace oil.
eRL produces 60,000 tons of diesel a month. Currently, ERL has useable reserve of 26,000 tons- enough for six to seven days, according to Prothom Alo’s March 31 issue.
there is no possibility of shortage in supply of petrol and octane. During the last ?nancial year, the country consumed 4 lakh 15 thousand tons of octane, 50 percent of them locally produced, and 50 percent imported. Last month there had been additional use of octane compared with the same period last year.
in April the demand of octane is estimated at 37,000 tons – 30,000 tons will be available locally. There should not be a problem of petrol given the shipments arrive in time.
in today’s situation success lies not only in keeping enough reserves, but also in ef?cient management and proper distribution